Eleanor Thompson Sweeping changes to New Zealand’s pay equity regime, passed under urgency in May 2025, have upended the landscape for workers in female-dominated professions. The new requirements not only halt all 33 active claims but also make it significantly harder for new claims to succeed. Here’s a deeper look at how these changes will affect specific professions-and how New Zealand’s pay equity movement has evolved over the decades.
How the New Law Affects Key Professions
Education: Teachers and School Staff
One of the largest pay equity claims affected by the law was that of teachers, covering more than 90,000 workers. Under the previous regime, teachers and support staff could compare their roles to male-dominated professions to demonstrate undervaluation. The new law now requires comparisons only within the same or similar organizations, making it much harder for teachers-whose profession is overwhelmingly female-to find valid male comparators. This effectively resets years of negotiation and delays long-awaited pay corrections for thousands of educators.
Healthcare: Nurses, Care, and Support Workers
Nurses, care workers, and health administrators are among those most impacted. These professions have historically been undervalued due to their gender composition. The new requirements mean that claims from these workers must now clear a higher evidentiary bar and rely on male comparators within the same or closely related employers. Many ongoing claims-some years in the making-have been extinguished overnight, sending thousands of workers “back to square one.” Unions warn that the changes could make it “impossible for people in female-dominated professions to be paid fairly,” and that the gender pay gap in health is likely to persist or widen.
Libraries and Local Government
Library workers and local government staff have also been directly affected. Librarians, for example, had previously compared their roles to male-dominated jobs like engineers to argue for pay equity. The new law specifically restricts such cross-sector comparisons, requiring instead that librarians find male comparators within their own or similar organizations-a near-impossible task in a profession that is over 90% female. Local government clerical and administrative staff face the same hurdles, with claims halted and the path to pay equity now far less accessible.
Social Workers and Public Service Roles
Social workers, another predominantly female profession, have seen their claims halted as well. Under the new law, comparisons to male-dominated roles such as air traffic controllers are no longer permitted. Instead, social workers must look for male comparators in closely related roles within their own or similar organizations, which severely limits the scope for successful claims.
Why These Changes Matter
The abrupt end to 33 active claims affects more than 150,000 workers across health, education, and local government. Many of these claims were well advanced, with extensive job assessments and data analysis already completed. Now, all must restart under the new, stricter rules. Critics argue this will delay or deny fair pay for thousands of women in undervalued roles, and unions have called the day the bill passed “a dark day for New Zealand women.”
A Brief History of Pay Equity in New Zealand
Early Progress: 1960–1972
- 1960: The Government Service Equal Pay Act established equal pay for women in the public sector.
- 1972: The Equal Pay Act extended this principle to the private sector, guaranteeing equal pay for equal work.
Testing the Law: 2012–2015
- Kristine Bartlett Case: Care worker Kristine Bartlett and her union took her case against TerraNova Homes to court, arguing that care and support work was underpaid due to gender-based undervaluation. The courts ruled that the Equal Pay Act required equal pay for work of equal value, not just the same work.
Modern Reforms: 2017–2020
- Joint Working Group: In 2017, a working group clarified principles for pay equity claims, leading to the 2020 Equal Pay Amendment Act. This made it easier for workers in female-dominated roles to bring claims, compare their work to male-dominated roles in other sectors, and negotiate settlements.
- Major Settlements: Over 100,000 workers, especially in care and support, saw their pay corrected under these reforms.
Recent Setbacks: 2025
- Urgent Law Change: The 2025 amendments reversed much of this progress. All current claims were extinguished, and new claims face higher thresholds and stricter rules on comparators. The government argues these changes are necessary for clarity and fiscal sustainability, but critics see them as a rollback of decades of gains.
The Ongoing Gender Pay Gap
Despite earlier progress, New Zealand’s gender pay gap has stalled at around 9% since 2017. The gap is even wider for Māori, Pacific, migrant, disabled, and older women. The rollback of pay equity claims is expected by many to slow or reverse gains made in closing this gap, especially in sectors where women make up the overwhelming majority of the workforce.
Summary
The new pay equity law significantly raises the bar for female-dominated professions seeking fair pay. Teachers, nurses, care workers, librarians, and social workers-all vital to New Zealand’s social fabric-now face greater challenges and longer waits for pay justice. While New Zealand’s pay equity journey has seen important milestones and victories over the decades, the recent legislative changes represent a major setback. The coming years will test the resolve of workers, unions, and advocates striving to uphold the principle of equal pay for work of equal value.
