Source: NZCTU
A group of organisations has lodged a formal complaint with the United Nations, asking it to investigate whether the government’s changes to New Zealand’s pay equity laws amount to systemic discrimination against women.
The complaint, brought by Pay Equity Coalition Aotearoa (PECA), which includes New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, and Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission, comes exactly one year after legislation cancelled existing pay equity claims and introduced stricter tests for bringing new claims.
Pay equity claims are raised to ensure that people receive equal pay for work of equal value. The cancelled claims covered more than 180,000 workers – the vast majority women – across care and disability support, education, health, and community and social services.
The legislative changes compounded disadvantage for wāhine Māori, Pacific women, migrant women, disabled women, and older women workers, who face the largest pay gaps with men. According to the Ministry of Women, Pacific women experience the largest of these gaps at 15.8%.
Dame Judy McGregor, spokesperson for PECA, says the changes have stalled progress for workers in historically undervalued roles.
“These are roles that have been chronically undervalued for decades. A year on, workers are no closer to justice. The law change has created a system that is much harder to access or work with – one where the thresholds and controls now make it extremely difficult for claims to proceed.”
Many of the affected sectors are publicly funded or directly employed by the state. The group says this sits at the heart of the complaint.
“The Government was not only the law-maker – it was also the largest employer affected by these claims. That raises serious questions about fairness when the rules are changed in a way that removes claims involving its own workforce,” says Dame Judy McGregor.
Melissa Ansell-Bridges, Secretary of the NZ Council of Trade Unions, says the issue goes beyond individual claims.
“This isn’t about one claim or one sector. It’s about whether the law itself now creates a system that structurally disadvantages women.”
The complaint asks the United Nations to consider whether the legislative changes have created systemic discrimination against women, particularly in relation to equality in employment, and equal pay for work of equal value.
Both are protected under the United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), to which New Zealand is a signatory.
Professor Gail Pacheco, Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission, says pay equity is a fundamental human right protected under the international conventions we are party to.
“The amendments made last year undermined the right to pay equity. Introduced without any consultation, they reversed decades of progress and made it significantly harder to address structural undervaluation of workers in female dominated occupations,” says Professor Gail Pacheco.
“As a country, we have committed and are obligated to not only advance pay equity but also to protect the hard-fought gains we have made. This complaint tests whether those obligations are being honoured in practice.”
The group says the changes have come at a time of sustained cost-of-living pressure. Workers affected by the cancelled claims continue to face rising costs while delivering essential services communities rely on.
Mel Burgess, teacher and NZEI Te Riu Roa member describes the impact of the overnight changes to legislation, “Like women everywhere, I just felt blindsided. We had been going for eight years by that stage for the early childhood claim.”
The United Nations will now assess whether the complaint is admissible. If the complaint is accepted, it will be sent to the New Zealand Government for a response. The CEDAW Committee will consider the case and provide its views and recommendations.
Dame Judy McGregor says lodging the complaint marks a significant step, “This is no longer just a domestic policy debate. It raises serious questions about whether the law now enables state-sponsored discrimination against women, and what that means for New Zealand’s commitment to fairness and human rights.”