The Green Party wants to restore pay equity law to the position it was before the Coalition Government “butchered it in 2025” along with funding a settlement for about 65,000 care and support workers whose claim was stopped by last year's changes to the Equal Pay Act.
Last year, the Coalition Government amended the Equal Pay Act and changes to legislation meant current pay equity claims were discontinued, which impacted an active claim for care and support workers.
Now, Greens co-leader Marama Davidson says; “care and support workers look after disabled people, older people and some of the most vulnerable people in New Zealand every day, yet their work has been undervalued for too long.”
“In government, the Greens will restore pay equity law and fund the settlement these workers need and deserve.”
Davidson says most of these workers were women on low pay.
"When a whānau relies on a carer so their nana can keep living at home, that carer's pay should reflect the skill and responsibility the job asks of them,” she says.
"These workers had already proven their work was undervalued when the Government changed the rules and told them to start again."
"The Green Party will recognise that established undervaluation, set aside funding of around $1.1 billion a year for the settlement, and pass legislation to settle the claim if that is what it takes," Davidson says.
According to the party, indicative funding for the care and support workers’ pay equity settlement is $1.072 billion in 2027/2028, $1.104 billion in 2028/2029, $1.137 billion in 2029/2030 and $1.171 billion in 2030/2031.
This totals about $4.48 billion over four years and is based on Parliamentary Library costings, with a 3% annual increase to reflect wage growth. This was an indicative provision for the Green Party’s fiscal planning and not a cap on the final settlement.
"The final settlement will be agreed through bargaining with the workers and their unions."
When it comes to funding the settlement, the final amount would be determined through bargaining and normal Cabinet funding processes.
"Luxon's Government chose to try and balance its budget by stopping these claims and continuing the underpayment of these workers,” Davidson says.
"The Greens will pay care workers because the people who care for our families should be able to afford to look after their own.”
‘We’re not going to cancel pay equity for women just to try and produce the illusion of a government surplus’ - Labour
Labour leader Chris Hipkins says Labour will announce its own plans and how much they would cost in due course.
“We'll be very clear what we're committing to when we make our announcements around pay equity, and we'll be very clear how we will pay for that.”
Hipkins says none of the active pay equity claims have reached settlement.
“So there is still a process to go through in order to calculate what it is that they are due. We’re going to reinstate that process so that they get their opportunity to claim pay equity.”
Among the 33 claims, some had barely started the process, he says.
“So there was a long way to go before we could put a figure on how much it would cost to settle them."
“What we’re guaranteeing is that they will be able to go through that process. Unlike National, we’re not going to cancel pay equity for women just so we can try and produce the illusion of a government surplus.”
“It’s a bargaining process and one of the reasons that we’re not going to be releasing the envelope that we go into that bargaining with, is that we recognise that there will be some genuine bargaining here.”
It was not like regular bargaining as it was based on a more objective set of calculations, he says, but once you get to the end point, there are still elements where there will be trade-offs.
“You want that to be a good faith bargaining process as the law currently requires … where there’s a bargaining process that needs to be done in good faith, we’re committed to doing that.”
First 100 days
Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds previously told reporters she wanted to settle the care and support workers claim by the 2027 Budget if elected to government in November's election.
“That’s my commitment and that’s what I want,” she told reporters on Tuesday following the release of the pre-election economic and fiscal update.
"We're committing to doing it within the first 100 days of the pay equity legislation. That is my commitment. That is my personal commitment."
Hipkins says he and Edmonds were on the same page.
Asked about the Greens pay equity policy before its release, Hipkins told reporters the Green Party could speak to its own policy.
He also called out Finance Minister Nicola Willis, who is also National’s finance spokesperson, following claims that “Labour’s hidden bill has now hit $18.8 billion.”
Hipkins says Willis’ comments were not true and that her numbers did not add up.
“Unlike Nicola Willis, I’m not willing to tell low-paid New Zealand women that they should earn less than men for doing work of the same value simply to balance the government’s books."
“It says everything about Nicola Willis’ flawed priorities that she seems to think cancelling pay equity for tens of thousands of low-paid Kiwi women is something to celebrate. It is an indictment on her track record as Minister of Finance. She supported the pay equity law that she then cancelled.”
“She said that she would fight for women to get fair pay, and then Nicola Willis and her government took that right away. It is wrong, and I'm not going to put up with it.”
Equal Pay Act changes
Last year, the Coalition Government amended the Equal Pay Act.
In doing so, it:
- Raised the threshold of “predominantly performed by female employees” from 60% to 70% and required this to be the case for at least 10 consecutive years
- Ensured there were “reasonable grounds” to believe the work is historically and currently undervalued, including a requirement for evidence
- Provided further clarity and guidance on the use of comparators
- Allowed employers to meet pay equity obligations in a way that is sustainable for their business – for example through phasing of settlements
Current pay equity claims at the time were discontinued but new claims could be raised under the amended Equal Pay Act if it met the requirements. Alongside this, review clauses in existing settlements would become unenforceable with settled claims being allowed to be re-raised ten years after settlement - if the claim met the updated requirements.
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