Employment lawyers say HR professionals need to consider what restrictions on pay secrecy will mean for their business
New Zealand is considered behind many countries when it comes to legislation tackling the gender pay gap. Its Government has also been criticised recently for abrupt changes to pay equity laws aimed at restricting potential claims.
In this context, a private member’s bill promoting pay transparency received sufficient support in Parliament to pass into law - the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill.
Introduced by Labour MP, Camilla Belich, the Bill has a relatively narrow ambit, but was voted through Parliament as a measure intended to increase pay transparency, enabling easier identification and remediation of pay discrimination.
After the bill becomes law, employees who experience ‘adverse conduct’ as a result of discussing or disclosing their pay will be entitled to bring a legal claim seeking compensation. This new legislation may do little to address or bring to light the root causes of pay inequity, but it does protect employees who want to discuss their remuneration with others.
Pay secrecy law of this sort brings New Zealand into line with comparable jurisdictions. Australia has recently amended its Fair Work Act to explicitly ban pay secrecy clauses and the European Union is introducing a directive requiring member states to ban pay secrecy clauses by 2025. The United Kingdom has more limited protection covering...
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