Pay equity is about women and men receiving the same pay for doing jobs that are different, but of equal value. That is, jobs that require similar levels of skills, responsibility and effort. An assessment of the job is done (process explained below) and it is compared against a similar male-dominated role – a comparator – to calculate appropriate rates of pay. Men are also covered by the claim! This is different from pay equality which compares the rates of pay of men and women doing the same job.

The current Care and Support Workers Pay Equity Settlement Act was a result of unions negotiations (after many legal cases) and our new Pay Equity claim is a different process.

It is time your work is valued, and your pay rates recognise your skills, effort, experience and work conditions.

 Raising the claim is the first step in this Pay Equity process.

Then follows an assessment part which will involve interviewing a sample of workers doing the roles (in the claim) to compare the skills, experience, responsibility, effort and working conditions of the work to a male-dominated job. This is happening now!

The 15 employers in the Unions representative claim include Emerge Aotearoa, Geneva Healthcare, Healthcare of NZ, NZ Community Living, Geneva Community Living, Pathways Health, Spectrum Care, VisionWest and Te Roopu Taurima.

We will be using the funded framework to extend the settlement to all support workers and are working on this at the same time.

Pay Equity Funded Framework is a process agreed by Cabinet (Government) to extend the pay equity to all support workers. We will be working on the Framework so that all support workers would get pay equity on the same date.

• Attend union meetings organised in your regions for pay equity and get active.
  
  
• Open the links below to add your message and details.
  
  
• We need to keep getting the issues for care & support workers in the media, keep meeting with MPs so they commit to fund another pay increase, and keep working with our allies and supporters to shine a light on what ignoring the care and support crisis will mean for everyone in our communities.

There are some big changes coming in your sector.

The Public Service Association, the union that covers support workers, is negotiating an equal pay claim for its members.  We'd love you to join the PSA (which you can do by clicking here), but if you just want more information then sign-up to our updates via the form below and we'll update you regularly on what is happening by email or SMS:

Click here to register for updates as a non-member.

As an essential health worker in care and support, the work you do is often unseen and not understood. 

We want you to tell us your story, whether it's:

• what do you do in your job,
• why this is important to your clients,
• and/or why your work and skills need to be valued.

Click here to record a video, send a voice message, or write your story.

Fill out the form below if you would like to be involved in achieving pay equity for care and support workers.

Add your name here

Add your name to the form below to connect with other care and support workers in your region to collectively work on Pay Equity.

https://www.psa.org.nz/psa/care-and-support-workers-getting-involved/

The role of the delegate is to act as a democratic leader and represent PSA members in the workplace. Relationship building is key to the role of a delegate – with members, fellow delegates and with management.

To become a delegate:

• Read about the role of delegates at the PSA
• Download and submit the appropriate delegate nomination form from the list below: 
  • Download the Workplace Delegate Nomination Form
  • Download the Rūnanga Workplace Delegate Nomination Form
  • Download the Hinonga Māngai Māori Delegate Nomination Form (formerly Māori Enterprise Delegate)
  • Download the Vā Moana Delegate Nomination Form (Pasefika enterprise delegate)
  • Download the National Enterprise Delegate Nomination Form
• Contact your local organiser

PSA delegates are a part of a team. Even after you’ve done your training, you’ll be supported by other delegates and your PSA organiser. You can also contact Te Roopu Tohutohu Manaaki, the PSA’s member advice and support centre, for more help. 

In 2017, care and support workers achieved historic pay increases and improvements when we unions won our Care and Support (Pay Equity) Settlement. The courts agreed with unionised care and support workers that the work was undervalued, and that pay rates, training, and progression needed to be vastly improved. This was a huge achievement for nearly 65000 workers in aged care residential, home support, disability support and, in 2018, mental health and addictions. This Settlement was an important step in recognising the value of the work care and support workers do.

The basis of the historic  2017 settlement was the establishment of a close relationship between care and support workers and remuneration paid to DHB healthcare and psychiatric assistants. Between 2017 and 2022 the remuneration for DHB workers has moved way ahead of the care and support workers’ remuneration.

The unions are claiming an immediate catch up and the establishment of new pay rates and we need workers to attend meetings to discuss and endorse the pay claim

The care and support workforce is under pressure from the many demands of Covid but also because of staff shortages caused by New Zealand’s traditional reliance on low pay rates and migrant workers. A settlement of new increased pay rates is an important part of resolving these issues.

Union members, union delegates and union staff were involved in achieving the extension of the Pay Equity Settlement Act (expires Dec 2023). The act became law the week of June 20th with a 3% increase to all support workers' rates of pay and maintained the requirement for training and qualifications.

We believe the 3% was not enough. We have formally written to the government to ask them to agree to an interim pay increase during the pay equity process (similar to other workers in the health sector pay equity claims) until the full pay equity process is completed. 18 months is far too long to wait for a further increase given the government had decided to provide you with only a 3% increase on your rates of pay during this period.

This is a joint campaign with our sister unions, NZNO and E tū. 

Other employers in the representative PE claim are BUPA, CCS Disability Action, Dunedin Community Care Trust, The Lifewise Trust, Pacific Island HomeCare, Presbyterian Support central and Toucan Taranaki.