Current issues - Quality of Work
The Quality of Work project combines previous work on pay and employment equity and precarious employment issues. It is focused on keeping pay and employment equity on the political agenda. It also looks at the effects of precarious work on employees and tackles how government and business can support changes towards quality work for all employees.
Pay and Employment Equity
Pay and Employment Equity is a key area for NACEW. The Council has been working in collaboration with the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ) to develop several on-line and downloadable tools for private sector HR practitioners to use to assess pay and employment equity practices in their organisation. The tools are targeted at HR professionals but any employer who has an interest in pay and employment equity can use them.
The tools encourage employers and HR professionals to gain a better understanding of pay and employment equity issues, and show the benefits to business of adopting fair gender pay and employment practices. They allow HR practitioners to look more deeply at current practices as it is often difficult to see discrepancies on the surface. This work builds on Maire Dwyer’s report The Economic Rationales for Closing the Gender Gap commissioned by NACEW in 2006. To find out more visit the HR website
Precarious Work
NACEW is committed to examining and providing advice on precarious employment issues affecting women. NACEW has identified government contracting as one area where there may be potential for the government as funder to influence improvements in the quality of work for women currently in precarious working situations or low paid work in the homecare, residential and cleaning sectors. Given NACEW’s longstanding interest in pay and employment equity, it sought to consider what might support these outcomes. The project examined how the government’s contracting/funding processes could be used to improve precarious employment with a view to providing recommendations to the Minister of Labour. Two research reports on the New Zealand context and international interventions were the result of this project along with a summary report and recommendations to the Minister of Labour.
Research was done on describing the process of contracting policy currently operating in New Zealand and whether precarious work or pay and employment equity outcomes for the provider’s employees are considered when contracts are awarded. International interventions have also been investigated that may address precarious work and pay and employment issues and the potential applicability and relevance for the contracting environment in New Zealand.
The Minister of Labour has referred NACEW’s recommendations for consideration in work she has directed the Department of Labour to do. This includes work on responsible contracting, the casualisation work programme and further work being scoped to address issues faced by many in the homecare, residential care and cleaning sectors. NACEW has sought ongoing progress from the Department on the projects.
