Pay equity and disabled people: Why fair pay is more than just financial security

We all have a right to live with dignity, and fair wages are essential for basic needs like housing, food, and healthcare. Which is why I’ve been thinking more about how the work of disabled people is valued along with how it impacts us when the work of others is undervalued. 

Meaningful and paid work contributes to independence and financial security. As disabled people, we often face systemic barriers in education, employment, and access to accommodations or changes that give us a fair opportunity. Additionally, we will often have additional expenses or ‘cost of disability’ due to living with an impairment on top of the costs everyone has. 

For many this leads to fewer employment opportunities and wage gaps for disabled people as a population group. When we also experience other factors of marginalisation, for example, as tāngata whaikaha Māori, women, rainbow, or based on our ethnicity, the likelihood of these barriers increases. 

Equal pay (being paid the same wage for the same job) and pay equity are two important ways of valuing work and achieving fair wages. Pay equity compares different jobs that require similar levels of skills, experience, and responsibilities as a way of working out fair pay rates. 

We know that there is a persistent disability wage gap in New Zealand, meaning that overall, disabled people are not paid equally. On average, we disabled people earn 7.6 per cent less than our non-disabled colleagues. This is because of things like lower pay rates, part time work and holding fewer qualifications.  

In the case of equal pay, disabled workers may unfairly be seen as less capable and, therefore, paid less. As disabled workers, we bring value to workplaces drawing on our lived experience in addition to other skills and experience required for jobs. 

An example of equal pay not happening in Aotearoa can be found in the first review of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2014 where the committee expressed concern about the use of minimum wage exemptions and recommended that New Zealand “examine alternatives to minimum wage exemptions”. At the review in 2022 the committee then recommended that New Zealand “Repeal section 8 of the Minimum Wage Act of 1983 and ensure that persons with disabilities are paid on the principle of equal pay for work of equal value.”

There was effort towards a wage supplement in Budget 2023 to replace the Minimum Wage Exemption which allows some employers to pay disabled workers as little $1 an hour. However, the supplement has since been scrapped as an idea and so far it would appear that little to no progress has been made to examine other alternatives or indeed repeal section 8. The committee’s recommendations suggest that minimum wage exemptions are likely to breach New Zealand’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). 

Turning to pay equity claims, these are claims that relate to gender discrimination; they show up in jobs that are mostly done by women where their work has been historically undervalued. One pay equity claim taken by care and support workers in 2017 increased their pay to 21 per cent above the minimum wage. This increase was in recognition that these workers have been historically underpaid because the sector is dominated by women. 

In May, a pre-Budget Day announcement introduced a Bill that almost overnight amended the Equal Pay Act and made it harder to bring a pay equity claim. The move also wiped over 30 existing claims off the bargaining table, including the review of the care and support worker settlement. The Public Service Association (PSA) says that these workers have seen their hard-won pay equity settlement eroded by inflation and the failure to maintain relativity above the minimum wage. Successive governments have not adequately funded the settlement which expired in June 2022 so these workers are not currently being paid fairly. 

So how do pay equity claims impact disabled people? 

Pay equity claims affect disabled people when we are working in those jobs where claims were in place meaning that workers continue to be undervalued and paid unfairly. As well as being the group of workers that some disabled people who receive or engage support have regular contact with, there are also many disabled people and their whānau employed in care and support work.

The changes to pay equity claims do little to attract new workers into the care and support sector, which already faces a shortage of staff. This may mean there is less support available to those who need it to live with dignity and on an equal basis with others. We want our support people to be valued and to receive fair pay.

What can we all do about it?

Disabled people can advocate for ourselves and for us all to receive fair wages, to receive adequate care and support, and for the people who support some of us to have their work valued and to also receive fair wages. 

Employers can support disabled people through hiring and employment practices and attitudes that give fair access to employment opportunities. Employers also need to be aware of their role in closing the wage gap that disabled workers can experience and in paying our support people fairly. Additionally, employers have an important role in identifying and closing wage gaps and ensuring equal pay between disabled and non-disabled staff doing the same job. 

People who hold positions of influence can use their voice to be an ally in the many barriers to fair pay. 

We can all promote fair pay for disabled workers, and for all workers in undervalued jobs. It is the right thing to do to create a more inclusive society where everyone has equal opportunity to a life of dignity.

You can contact the Human Rights Commission if you feel discriminated against on the basis of disability, including in employment.

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