The initiators of the New Zealand’s Equal Pay Awards, YWCA Auckland are backing the announcement by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Women Paula Bennett of a plan to address New Zealand’s gender pay gap.
YWCA Auckland runs the YWCA Equal Pay Awards, marking its fourth annual campaign in 2017. The Awards programme invites New Zealand businesses to prove how fair they are by applying for a YWCA Equal Pay Best Practice Compact, or entering the full awards, depending on how much progress a business has made on its own equal pay journey.
The Ministry for Women spoke to 26 large companies about their experiences and what they’re doing to close the gap, with twelve companies releasing their profiles publically.
Monica Briggs, chief executive of YWCA Auckland and judge of the YWCA Equal Pay Awards, is thrilled to see that previous winners of Equal Pay Awards, ANZ, EY and Youthtown are receiving further recognition from the Ministry for Women as exemplars of best practice in equal pay
“These organisations and others such as Sky City, Westpac and Simpson Grierson are inspiring other businesses to address their gender pay gap through positive action and measurable change” says Briggs in a statement. “Business role models are a great step towards addressing the New Zealand equal pay gap which currently sits at 14 percent based on average hourly earnings”.
Briggs is encouraging companies which have started to address the gender pay gap in their organisations to enter the 2017 Equal Pay Awards.
“You might be a listed company responding to the new NZX Governance Code for Diversity or an SME business looking to build a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talent. Whatever your motivation in tackling your gender pay gap, we know that previous Award participants have benefited greatly from sharing their strategies with other businesses” she says.
Entries for the YWCA Equal Pay Awards and Equal Pay Best Practice Compact close on Friday, September 15. Award winners will be announced at a special ceremony on November 9 in the Auckland CBD.
