Equal Pay Act 1972

Pay equity claims - Affected employees automatically covered by union claims

13W: Affected employees automatically covered by union claims

You could also call this:

"You're automatically part of a union's pay claim if you do similar work."

If a union makes a pay equity claim with your employer, you are covered by this claim if you do work that is the same as or similar to the work in the claim. You are covered from the date the claim is made if you are already employed by the employer and are a member of the union. If not, you are covered from the date you are told about the claim under section 13V(1) or 13ZA(2).

This rule does not apply to you if you are not allowed to make a pay equity claim under section 2B. It also does not apply if you have already made or settled a pay equity claim with your employer about the same work, or if you have accepted an offer from your employer about the same work under section 13ZL(2), (4), or (5).

This rule overrides section 236(1) and (3) of the Employment Relations Act 2000. You can find more information about this in the Employment Relations Act 2000.

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This page was last updated on 24 May 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS427302.

Topics:

Rights and equality > Anti-discriminationWork and jobs > Worker rights

13V: Employer must give notice of first pay equity claim that has merit raised by union, or

"Employers must tell staff about valid pay equity claims in a clear and timely notice."

13X: Union may not require fees from non-members, or

"Unions can't make non-members pay fees for help with a claim"

Part 4Pay equity claims
Affected employees automatically covered by union claims

13WAffected employees automatically covered by union claims

If a union raises a pay equity claim with an employer, every employee of the employer who performs work that is the same as, or substantially similar to, the work to which the claim relates is covered by the union-raised claim on and from the date specified in subsection (2).
The date is—
the date on which the claim is raised, if the employee is employed by the employer and is a member of the union on that date; or
the date on which the employee is notified of the claim under section 13V(1) or 13ZA(2), in any other case.

Subsection (1) does not apply to an employee who—
is barred from raising a pay equity claim under section 2B; or
has already, before receiving notice of the claim raised by the union,—
1. raised or settled a pay equity claim with the employer in respect of the work to which the union claim relates; or
2. accepted an offer of the benefit of a pay equity settlement from the employer in respect of the work to which the union claim relates under section 13ZL(2), (4), or (5).

This section overrides section 236(1) and (3) of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

Notes

Section 13W: inserted, on 6 November 2020, by section 18 of the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 45).