Awards celebrate equal pay commitment
As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion in AUT Directions, AUT will once again partner with YWCA for the Equal Pay Awards.
The awards programme invites New Zealand businesses to prove how fair they are by applying for a YWCA Equal Pay Best Practice Compact, or by entering the full awards.
The partnership underlines our commitment to two strategic themes in AUT Directions, responding to our place in the world and being a place where people love to work and learn.
AUT is the sponsor of the Innovation category, which celebrates innovative responses to addressing the equal pay gap. These organisations are not afraid to try new things and look outside the box.
Head of Communications Alison Sykora says the partnership echoes AUT’s values. “Sponsoring the innovation category of the YWCA Equal Pay Awards is a reflection of our commitment to be an inclusive community, and providing a place where people love to work and learn,” she said.
Professor Gail Pacheco from the School of Economics will be a judge at the awards and has carried out extensive research in the area of equal pay through the New Zealand Work Research Institute.
The research report Empirical evidence of the gender pay gap in New Zealand was led by Professor Pacheco, and found that 80% of the gender pay gap is now driven by harder to measure factors, like conscious and unconscious bias that impacts negatively on women’s recruitment and pay advancement, and differences in choices and behaviours between men and women.
Professor Pacheco also co-authored the Parenthood and labour market outcomes report which discovered the ‘mum tax’ and found that parenthood contributes to the gender pay gap. It penalises all women, particularly those who are on high incomes, and sets them on a trajectory of lower lifetime earnings relative to their male peers.
Entries for the YWCA Equal Pay Awards are now open, closing on Friday 7 September.
The Awards presentation ceremony is on Wednesday 7 November.
Find out more about the awards, entry details and criteria on the YWCA Equal Pay Awards website.
YWCA Equal Pay Awards website