The government’s draft pay equity bill should be scrapped, says the Coalition for Equal Value Equal Pay. The government says it wants to make it easier for women to claim pay equity without going to court. But this Bill would do the opposite.
The Courts confirmed that the current Equal Pay Act allows comparisons with male-dominated work on the skills, effort, responsibilities, service, and working conditions involved. The pay of males in female-dominated workplaces and sectors may also be undervalued so the courts said women could look wider for appropriate comparators. But the new Bill demands comparators be sought within the same workforce or sector first, wasting time and resources.
To crown it all, back pay is largely ruled out, current claims have to be transferred to the new processes, and penalties are very low.
The Bill makes achieving pay equity much harder after one much trumpeted success. It should be totally rewritten or scrapped – the current Act will suffice, supplemented by the principles earlier agreed by all parties.
