Equal Pay Act 1972

Pay equity claims - Pay equity bargaining process

13ZE: Selecting appropriate comparators

You could also call this:

"Choosing someone to compare your pay with to make sure you get fair pay"

When you are making a pay equity claim, you need to find people to compare your pay with. These people are called comparators. You compare your work and pay to theirs.

If you work for one employer, you look for comparators who work for the same employer. If your employer does not have any comparators, you look for comparators who work for a similar employer. If you cannot find any comparators at similar employers, you look for comparators in the same industry or sector.

If you work for many employers, you look for comparators who work for one of those employers. If none of those employers have comparators, you look for comparators who work for similar employers. If you cannot find any comparators at similar employers, you look for comparators in the same industry or sector.

You can also choose comparators from a previous pay equity claim that has been settled, as long as it was settled after the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025 came into force.

The comparators you choose must be doing work that is similar to yours. This means they must have similar skills, responsibilities, and working conditions. You cannot choose comparators who are paid less because their work has been undervalued, according to section 13F(1)(b)(i) and section 13F(1)(b)(ii).

You also cannot choose comparators if there are not enough of them to make a fair comparison. When choosing comparators, you must think about any other important matters that are listed in regulations.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS427322.


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13ZD: Matters to be assessed, or

"What to consider when checking if a job's pay is fair"


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13ZEA: Employer decides no appropriate comparators available, or

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Part 4Pay equity claims
Pay equity bargaining process

13ZESelecting appropriate comparators

  1. This section sets out how parties select appropriate comparators against which to assess a pay equity claim under section 13ZD.

  2. The parties to a pay equity claim involving 1 employer must select comparators that are most closely related to the employer by approaching the task as follows:

  3. if the employer employs 1 or more comparators, the parties must select 1 or more of those comparators:
    1. if the employer does not employ any comparators, the parties must select 1 or more comparators from 1 or more similar employers:
      1. if neither paragraph (a) nor paragraph (b) applies, the parties must select 1 or more comparators from 1 or more other employers within the same industry or sector.
        1. The parties to a multi-employer pay equity claim must select comparators that are most closely related to the employers by approaching the task as follows:

        2. if 1 or more of the employers employ 1 or more comparators, the parties must select 1 or more comparators from 1 or more of those employers:
          1. if none of the employers employ any comparators, the parties must select 1 or more comparators from 1 or more employers that are similar to the employers in the claim:
            1. if neither paragraph (a) nor paragraph (b) applies, the parties must select 1 or more comparators from 1 or more other employers within the same industry or sector.
              1. In addition to acting in accordance with subsection (2) or (3) (as applicable), the parties may, by agreement, select as a comparator the employees covered by a pay equity claim that has previously (but not before the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025 comes into force) been raised and been the subject of a pay equity claim settlement.

              2. A comparator selected under subsection (2) or (3) (as applicable) must be a male workforce that performs—

              3. work that is the same as, or substantially similar to, the work to which the claim relates; or
                1. work that is different to the work to which the claim relates, but that involves 1 or more of the following:
                  1. skills and experience that are the same as, or substantially similar to, those required to perform the work to which the claim relates:
                    1. responsibilities that are the same as, or substantially similar to, those involved in the work to which the claim relates:
                      1. working conditions that are the same as, or substantially similar to, those involved in the work to which the claim relates:
                        1. degrees of effort that are the same as, or substantially similar to, those involved in the work to which the claim relates.
                        2. Despite subsections (2) and (3), the parties may not select a comparator if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the work performed by that comparator—

                        3. has been historically undervalued in the way described in section 13F(1)(b)(i); and
                          1. continues to be subject to systemic sex-based undervaluation in the way described in section 13F(1)(b)(ii).
                            1. Despite subsections (2) to (4), the parties may not select as a comparator a workforce that is too small to allow a meaningful comparison between its work and the work to which the claim relates.

                            2. When selecting comparators, the parties must take into account any additional matters prescribed by regulations.

                            Notes
                            • Section 13ZE: replaced, on , by section 29 of the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 21).