In this edition of NEON:

• Roundtable to progress pay and employment equity
• Jobs for the boys
• Jobs for the girls
• And where are the jobs for young people?
• Gender quotas?
• New Zealand Global Women
• Parental leave complaints and enquiries
• Literacy prize joins EEO Trust Work & Life Awards
• NEON Subscriber Survey
• What would ensure equality at work?
• International EEO Shorts

Roundtable to progress pay and employment equity

A roundtable to progress pay and employment equity in New Zealand will be held on August 19, 2009, by the Human Rights Commission.

“We ‘re seeking to identify what should be done to push ahead on pay and employment equity given the clear human rights requirements to make progress,” says EEO Commissioner Dr Judy McGregor.

The Minister of Labour Hon Kate Wilkinson will be invited to speak to the roundtable. It will be chaired by Joanna Beresford, the former chair of the steering group for the now disbanded Pay and Employment Equity Unit in the Department of Labour. If you are interested in attending this roundtable please email us at emilias@hrc.co.nz This event is by invitation.

The gender pay gap in New Zealand is 12% (around 20% for women in the public sector).    “At the current rate of progress, it could take 100 years to close”.

No women have been appointed to the important new National Infrastructure Advisory Board to help formulate a 20 year plan. Eight men were named and their appointments are staggered to balance the need for continuity.

Infrastructure Minister Bill English says the group will be a rich source of insight as government plans to improve New Zealand’s roads, broadband and electricity supply. It’s disappointing that it was considered there was not one qualified woman in the whole of New Zealand who could help with such insights.”, says EEO Commissioner Dr Judy McGregor.

One woman, Miriam Dean QC, has been appointed to the Auckland Transition Agency that will manage the transition from the existing 7 territorial authorities and one regional council, to a single unitary authority for Auckland and 20 to 30 Local Boards.

Jobs for the girls

Congratulations to Bernadette Courtney, the fifth New Zealand woman to edit a major metropolitan newspaper in New Zealand. Bernadette has been appointed the editor of The Dominion Post. She is the second woman to edit a Wellington daily, after Sue Carty at the former Evening Post. Previously there have been female editors of the Waikato Times and the now defunct Auckland Star.

The New Zealand Census of Women’s Participation 2008 reported that there were only 4 women editing provincial daily newspapers or the weekend press.    Bernadette breaks the drought for women in metropolitan dailies.

Negative perceptions of young job seekers, particularly Generation Y, and the need for improved employers’ attitudes was a major theme at the Youth Employment Summit.   Barriers identified by civil society groups, political parties, trade unions and business representatives included employer perceptions that young people were a “risk”.

The unemployment rate for youth increased to 17.2% for the year to March 2009. This was higher than the 14.3% recorded for the year to March 2008. The youth unemployment rate remains well above the annual average rate for all persons (5%).

Gender quotas?
New Zealand has been urged at the Human Rights Council in Geneva to start discussions on introducing gender quotas on the boards of public companies.

Norway stated in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of New Zealand at the United Nations this month (May) that women’s under-representation in leadership and governance positions in the public and private sector needed improvement.

“The call for quotas will be a wake-up call for the 60 companies in New Zealand’s top 100 with no women on their boards”, said New Zealand’s Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Dr Judy McGregor who regularly publishes a benchmark Census report monitoring women’s progress

Norway was one of a number of countries at the United Nations to recommend further measures to improve New Zealand women’s progress.

• Brazil recommended that the rights of New Zealand women in the labour market needed to be reinforced, regardless of age or ethnicity.
• Canada asked for targets to be established for improving the representation of women in senior management in the public service and for measurable targets to realise gender pay equality.
• Argentina wanted active policies to increase the numbers of women in local government, the judiciary and the health sector.
• Angola asked New Zealand to continue to adopt policies in order to achieve full gender parity.

The New Zealand Human Rights Commission in its report on the country’s human rights progress recommended that the government establish targets for improving representation of women in senior management in the public service. It also asked for a minimum target of halving the gender pay gap of 12 per cent between men and women by 2012 and eliminating it by 2020.

“We are pleased that the new UPR process allowed other countries to comment not only on the positive progress made by New Zealand women but also on the embarrassingly low proportion of women, 8.65%, who are directors of listed companies.” States are reviewed every four years under the UPR mechanism.

Norway introduced gender quotas with controversial legislation in 2003. In six years the number of women on publicly listed companies increased 600% from 6% in 2001 to more than 37%.

Business case arguments for women on boards have been produced by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs at http://www.mwa.govt.nz/women-on-boards/women-on-boards-why-women-on-company-boards-are-good-for-business-1

A new group of high-profile women leaders committed to encouraging women in top leadership will be launched on Thursday 2 July. Founding members include Rt Hon Jenny Shipley and Wellington lawyer Mai Chen (Chairperson).   Called New Zealand Global Women the group wants to accelerate women into top leadership positions. Its formation comes at a time when 60 of the top 100 companies in New Zealand have no women on their boards.

Parental leave complaints and enquiries

A complaint to the Human Rights Commission last year from a relief teacher unable to get Paid Parental Leave because of her job was one reason the Commission made submissions to government about the need for eligibility to paid parental leave to be broadened to cover workers who have more than one employer.

The teacher’s complaint was one of four about eligibility for Paid Parental Leave received from temporary or seasonal workers over the last 6 years.

The Commission received a total of 175 complaints and enquiries relating to parental leave between January 2002 and December 2008 – an average of 25 per year.

The greatest number (68) were about entitlements to parental leave, while there were 28 enquiries/complaints over pressure being put on employees who are pregnant or wanting parental leave. Jobs not held for employees returning from parental leave led to 19 enquiries/complaints, and men not having primary entitlement to parental leave led to 16 enquiries/complaints. There were 19 complaints regarding problems after returning from parental leave, 10 of them from men wanting flexible work arrangements.

Most of the enquiries and complaints were dealt with by the Commission’s phone service, Infoline, which provided information and/or made external referrals. Some were progressed through the Commission’s dispute resolution process.   Others were referred to Commission staff or Commissioners, who, if appropriate, raised the issues with appropriate Ministers, other politicians and government departments.

Literacy prize joins EEO Trust Work & Life Awards

Employers who take practical action to boost employees’ literacy and numeracy will be recognised for the first time in this year’s EEO Trust Work & Life Awards

The Skills Highway Award, backed by the Department of Labour (DoL), will acknowledge employers who help staff improve their reading, writing and maths. Research shows that more than 40% of New Zealanders don’t have the literacy and numeracy necessary to understand many of the written documents or maths needed in the workplace.

Studies also suggest that employees who are helped to improve their skills become more productive, make fewer errors, and enjoy a boost in self-esteem, says Dr Philippa Reed, Chief Executive of the EEO Trust. “These skills are critical in tough economic times, when productivity and engagement are more important than ever.”

The Skills Highway Award is open to all organisations running literacy or numeracy programmes and joins six other categories in the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards 2009. The deadline for entries is July 23, with awards presented on Thursday October 29 at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

“The EEO Trust Work & Life Awards celebrate organisations that make the most of their diverse workforce.”

For more on the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards visit http://www.eeotrust.org.nz/awards/awards.cfm.

NEON Subscriber Survey

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What would ensure equality at work?

Have your say in the National Conversation about work and help make a difference to improve equal employment opportunities in New Zealand. The Human Rights Commission wants to hear from workers, employers, unions, community groups and others about what would ensure equality at work.  The next regional visit is to Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough from 8 – 12 June, 2009.  Complete the online survey

EEO International Shorts

Equality Bill Introduced in Britain

The British Minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman, published in April an Equality Bill that sets out groundbreaking new laws to help narrow the gap between rich and poor, requires business to report on gender pay, outlaws age discrimination and will strengthen Britain’s anti-discrimination legislation.

The Bill will simplify laws that have become complex and difficult to navigate. Despite considerable progress since 1997, inequality and discrimination still exist, which is why the law needs to be strengthened, the Minister says. Women, for example, are paid on average 23 per cent less per hour than men, disabled people are twice as likely to be out of work, and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are nearly a fifth less likely to find work. The Equality Bill will come in to force in 2010.

Within hours of the Australian Government announcing paid parental leave in its recent Budget, business groups were raising concerns about the cost. The scheme offers primary carers earning less than $150,000 a year 18 weeks of post-natal leave paid at the minimum wage, but the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants companies compensated for administering it.   Families Minister Jenny Macklin said the government would provide employers with the money to fund the payments up-front. She also defended the 2011 start date, saying legislation would pass through parliament before the next federal election, due in late 2010.

New laws giving employees the right to request a flexible work arrangement became law in April in Australia, and will come into effect in 2010. They will prompt a significant change to the way flexible work practices are negotiated at work, according to the newsletter of Aequus Partners, an Australian Management consultancy specialising in diversity.

Tall people earn higher wages than their shorter counterparts while being obese does not mean a slimmed-down pay packet, according to a new Australian study. Researchers from the University of Sydney and Canberra’s Australian National University (ANU) found a strong link between wages and height, particularly for men, with each additional 10 cms of height adding three per cent to hourly wages.

The “height premium” was two per cent per 10 cm for women.  The researchers examined health and income data from almost 20,000 Australians.

Getting more women into male dominated areas like science, engineering and technology remains a challenge in Britain, according to a report by the National Skills Forum. It has recommended 27 key actions to reduce the barriers preventing women from entering those professions. They include specialised careers guidance for young women, linking them with employers, and making it illegal for employers to specify working hours (such as 9 – 5) unless they can justify this. The report recommends part-time apprenticeships, and suggests that the British Government think again about withdrawing funding for already qualified women to study for a new qualification. Women who have been out of the workforce for years need help to reskill, it says.

More than 1.5 million British workers may be being paid beneath the minimum wage, according to the British Trade Union Council – despite it being a decade since minimum wage laws were introduced. Those most at risk of under-payment are hotel, bar and restaurant workers, shop assistants and hairdressers. To make them more aware of their rights, the union body has published an updated guide to the national minimum wage.

Employees find it easier to tell their employer about a physical illness than mental health issues, research from Britain’s Mental Health Foundation has found. Almost half (45%) of employees who were off work with a physical complaint experienced some depression when they returned to work, but they felt unable to tell their line managers about this. The study found that most managers were unaware of how a serious physical illness affects someone’s mental health, and warns that unless people are helped to readjust to work, they may have a relapse or leave the job.

New work in Britain that for the first time breaks down pay gaps and pay penalties by gender and ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation and age has found that gender pay gaps and pay penalties persist in all groups, and that men and women with disabilities are affected most by this.   Britain’s Equality and Human Rights Commission’s study analysed average hourly pay gaps and pay penalties by EEO categories. Pay gaps show the difference in average hourly pay between different groups, while the pay penalty is the difference in pay between groups with similar, though not identical, work.   Both younger and older workers experience pay gaps, the study showed, but not pay penalties, while the findings on religious and sexual orientation were mixed.

A project aimed at increasing the number of women in senior roles within local government in Northern Ireland has been so successful it is now being used as a model for an EEO plan to get more disabled people into government, according to the Equal Opportunities Review. The project involved appointing gender champions, a Declaration of Principles and strategic partners. When it started, there were no female CEOs in any of Northern Ireland’s 26 councils. There are now 3, and women’s issues are becoming more central to councils’ agendas, the EOR says.

The right to ask for flexible hours is not a magic bullet for reducing work- family conflicts, a British report has found. The research looked at Britain’s ‘right to request’ laws, compared to other Western countries. In all countries, women are more likely to take-up flexible working options than men because of caring responsibilities, the report’s author, Hegewisch, found. Although flexible hours contribute to work-family balance, he found that adequate childcare for parents and a cap on working time for employers overall were important incentives for flexible working. Managerial training and support is essential to the success of flexibility policies, the research says.

Giving full-time employees the opportunity to work from home sometimes reduces work/life conflict and enables employees to be more productive, new research on IBM has found. The researchers found that increased work hours generally lead to work/life conflict, but working from home and flexible hours reduces this. Working from home enabled employees to work four hours per week longer, while flexible hours enabled employees to work 7 hours per week more. These outcomes (with one exception) held true for IBM employees and businesses in 75 countries. Though the researchers saw this as a win/win, the research indicates a new risk – that employers use flexible hours and place of work as a way of getting their employees to work even harder.