Last year's Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry Report found that for every dollar a Pākehā man made in 2021, Pasifika women earned just 75 cents. Photo: RNZ / Craig McCulloch
An open letter delivered to Parliament this morning calls on the government to crack on with legislation requiring transparency from businesses on the pay gap.
The letter comes after the Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry Report found that for every dollar a Pākehā man made in 2021, Pākehā women earned just 89 cents.
For Māori men it dropped to 86 cents, Māori women and Pasifika men earned 81 cents, and Pasifika women earned just 75 cents on the dollar.
The letter is signed by 51 businesses, unions and other groups, with the likes of ANZ bank, Sky City, and DB Breweries among the signatories.
Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo told Morning Report that increasing pay transparency by requiring companies to report pay gaps, and job advertisements to have salary ranges, would benefit everyone.
"Regardless of the size of the business, that will help everybody - a disabled worker, abled worker, Pacific, Māori, whatever ethnicity, gender - this is about everybody even though it came out of the Pacific Pay Gap [Inquiry]."
She said the big businesses who had signed the open letter in support of increased transparency were on board because they wanted to do the right thing and they valued their people.
"They're not saying that their systems are perfect, but they're ... putting their hands up to do better for their staff."
Sumeo said it hurt people when they found out they were being paid less than someone else in a comparable role and not everyone was confident negotiating pay for themselves when applying for a new role.
"It hurts when you find out that you're providing the same output, you're giving your best, you have the same qualifications and everything and then you find out you're being paid significantly less than others," she said.
"If I'm applying for a job, I would like to know what is on offer in terms of the pay, in terms of the salary.
"It might be okay for someone who knows how to look up the market value of a job ... but if I'm a new migrant into New Zealand, I don't have any idea of what the market value is; if I'm a young graduate going into
employment for the first time, I'd like to know what the market value is."
Increasing pay transparency by requiring companies to report pay gaps, and job advertisements to have salary ranges, would benefit everyone, says Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo. Photo: Supplied
Legislating pay transparency was about incentivising businesses to "do the right thing" by their workers, she said, but it would also empower employees.
"Turn the lights on, be up front; if you're going to a shop you know ... generally what the prices are for what you're buying, if you're going to give your talent and your commitment and your loyalty to a business, the least you could expect is to have the salary there," she said.
"We need to provide a tool so that people can empower themselves in terms of the pursuit of fair pay, equal opportunities, fairness and self determination."
