ACHIEVING EQUITY IN PAYING STAFF

When we start school, we are often asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. 

When I was younger I wanted to be a Mum, just like my Mum, through high-school this then changed to a rubbish truck collector, cause of how fit I could be, then when I left high-school I had enrolled to do computer science, which didn’t last long, and now I work in the health sector. Multiple factors affected this decision which include role models coming into my life, opportunities presenting themselves, my own values, and priorities which steered me in this direction. 

  As we know, life throws us curve balls and to have a job is meant to give us a sense of security and enjoy some of life’s comforts. In most cases this rings true but, in many cases, we see that some of our friends and family members are working to make ends meet living pay day to pay day.

Legally, employers must pay a minimum wage, but this has proven to not meet the needs of families, so the introduction of a voluntary Living Wage reflects what earners in a family need to provide basics to families.

For New Zealand, the current Living Wage is $22.10 per hour, for Metro Vancouver it is $19.50. Identifying this Kāhui Tautoko have worked with clients to ensure that employees, contractors, and sub-contractors are being paid a Living Wage. 

Kāhui Tautoko have also looked at Wage Parity – how much employees get paid which can result in addressing inequities faced by our indigenous whānau. Wage Parity has multiple factors affecting what a person should be paid. Factors to consider include qualification, experience, longevity in the role, loyalty to the organisation and performance and to complicate things more, there is no known ‘wage parity’ formula to test against.

For our whānau working in indigenous organisations when we compare the rates of their roles to market rate or non-indigenous organisations they are often paid less, and this can be for several reasons such as funding and organisations not sharing what their employees are being paid.

Identifying and understanding Living Wage and Wage Parity and supporting employers and organisations to do better can have a positive impact and outcome for our friends and whānau so that the curve balls that life throws us are little more manageable to hit away.