The Government said it's acting to close the gender pay gap by compelling hundreds of private companies report on pay equity, but hasn't yet drafted the legislation to do it.
While reporting would be required, "action plans" would be voluntary.
The Government said it's "made the decision to announce our plan" to introduce a gender pay gap reporting system "early in the process" so it could ensure wide-ranging input from stakeholders to "inform the design of the system before legislation outlining the system is drafted".
There are three sitting weeks remaining in the current parliamentary term, the first of which is next week.
The Government said its progressing work on pay equity, but work on legislation has not yet begun. (Source: 1News)
If drafted - and later passed - the legislation would require around 900 entities - those with over 250 employees - to report their gender pay gap, and later those with over 100 workers.
The Government has also signalled work on ethnicity reporting as well as gender.
Minister for Women Jan Tinetti said women had different experiences in the workplace than men, and change was needed.
"Requiring companies to publish their gender pay gap will encourage them to address the drivers of those gaps and increase transparency for workers," she said.
"This move is part of the Government's ongoing commitment to make New Zealand an equitable and desirable place for people to live, work, and do business."
She said countries New Zealand compares itself to, such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom had already successfully introduced gender pay gap reporting.
"We need to ensure we’re staying in line with international standards to attract highly skilled women to New Zealand and do what’s right as an inclusive and forward-thinking country."
Associate Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Priyanca Radhakrishnan said the announcement of the plan marked an "important step" to address inequity in the workplace.
"Initially, around 900 entities will be required to report their pay gap, and then after four years, this will increase to almost 2700."
She said "action plans" would be voluntary to begin with
"While action plans will be voluntary at the start, we will review this after three years to determine whether it needs to be made mandatory."
According to the Ministry of Women, the gender pay gap sits at 9.2%.
Radhakrishnan said the Government was also committed to exploring the inclusion of ethnicity in pay gap reporting as Māori, Pacific peoples and other ethnic groups often faced the compounding impact of both gender and ethnic pay gaps.
"Through this next phase of consultation we’ll be able to consider the inclusion of ethnicity before legislation is drafted.
"We’ve made the decision to announce our plan to introduce a reporting system early in the process so we can ensure that we get wide-ranging input from stakeholders to inform the design of the system before legislation outlining the system is drafted."
She said about 200 businesses, including Spark, Air New Zealand, My Food Bag and Sharesies already voluntarily reported - or had "committed to start" reporting - their gender pay gap.
“We’ll be [learning] from their experience and establish a universal model for reporting so there is consistency and guidance for employers and workers."
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