The Hospice Pay Equity claim was raised by NZNO in late-2023. It includes all 27 hospices where NZNO has members. Updates are provided to members fortnightly in the Member Newsletter. These are copied below.

Hospice Pay Equity claim updates as included in the fortnightly NZNO member newsletter

• 2 August 2024 
  We are pleased to report that we have been able to interview some hospice members/role holders as part of the first step in the work assessment process. It has proven difficult to identify members willing to be interviewed. We still have some interviews to complete and would really welcome members to come forward. Particularly from Marlborough, Nurse Maude, Totara, South Canterbury, Waikato Hospices. The interviews take around two hours of paid time and can be done either in person or virtually. We would be happy to make a time that suits people and our interviewers. These interviews are really important to gain an in-depth understanding of the skills, knowledge, responsibilities and effort that are required to do your work. Please contact Moira on [email protected] if you work at one the hospices mentioned above and would be willing to be interviewed.
  
  
• 19 July 2024
  Interviewing training was held last week for representatives of both NZNO and hospices. We have now reached out to hospice members seeking expressions of interest to be interviewed and to talk about their work. The interviews follow a questionnaire that is part of the Te Orowaru Pay Equity Tool and will explore 14 different factors including your skills, knowledge, responsibilities, effort and work conditions. Thank you to those who have already made contact, EOIs are open until midday Monday 22 July.
  
  
• 5 July 2024
  Interview training will take place on Wednesday 9 July. This will move the process along with interviews of role holders in the four regions (Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Christchurch) being organised to take place as soon as possible. There are four roles covered by this claim: nurse practitioners, registered nurse, enrolled nurse and health care assistants. So, we will be interviewing people who hold those four roles to ensure we have a clear understanding of what their work entails.
  
  
• 21 June 2024
  Interview training for the union/employer interviewers is planned for second week of July, with the actual interview schedule to be confirmed around the same time. This is another important step in the pay equity process and is required for us to gather the evidence needed to prove the work is undervalued. We really appreciate members who are willing to be interviewed and to talk about what their work is and what skills, knowledge and effort goes into what they do. Thank you.
  
  
• 7 June 2024
  We now have both the employers MEPEPA (multi-employer pay equity process agreement) and the BPA TOR (bargaining process agreement terms of reference) signed off. We have identified a group of employer and union representatives to be trained in the interview process which will take place soon. We will then be looking to interview workers who are employed in the roles of nurse practitioners, registered nurses, enrolled nurses and health care assistants. There will be around five interviews in each region – Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch.
  
  
• 24 May 2024
  Work on the set-up process continues. This will include identifying where and who will be interviewed. The interviewers undergo training in the process before the interviews commence. We are looking to interview workers / members covered by this claim in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch.
  
  
• 10 May 2024
  The setup process for this claim is taking longer than anticipated. Partly because unlike the Plunket claim above that has a single employer party, the Hospice Claim has 27 employer parties, which means a bigger group to agree on each of the steps required. We are hopeful we will get underway soon with the interviews for the work assessment process.
  
  
• 26 April 2024
  We are currently awaiting sign off of the employers’ Multi-employer Pay Equity Process Agreement (MEPEPA). When last updated, the last of the 27 employer parties were signing up to the Agreement. We will then be progressing the union employer Terms of Reference for this process, then setting up the interviews of which there will be around 20 across the four broad regions. Identification of which specific roles and where the interviews will occur is yet to take place.
  
  
• 12 April 2024
  The setup phase is progressing well. We expect to receive the employers’ Multi Employer Pay Equity Process Agreement (MEPEPA) soon which will describe how they will work together and then we will meet to agree how NZNO and the Employer representatives will progress the steps required to start the work assessment phase. This will involve members being interviewed about their work and will hopefully be underway by late May.
  
  
• 28 March 2024
  NZNO Pay Equity leads met last week with the lead for the Hospice Pay Equity claim. It was a useful meeting in that we were able to map out the next steps. The employers are working on their Multi-employer Pay Equity Process Agreement, which is required by the Equal Pay Act. They’re also working on documents on how the employer parties are going to work together, including sign off and agreements reached. We received a draft for review early this week. The next step is to agree on the “Bargaining Terms of Reference” which is an agreement on how the union and the employers will progress the Pay Equity claim. At the meeting we also discussed the number of interviews we will need to do, the specific roles, and where. We will be looking to recruit at least two delegates from each of the four regions to be trained on the interview process. And following the training we will be looking to invite role holders (members) to be interviewed. Members will get an update through their local organisers on how this part of the work will be progressed.
  
  
• 15 March 2024
  A meeting is scheduled for Monday 18 March to plan the next steps in the set-up process. This will include identifying the number of interviews required for each role and where they will take place. Some members will be approached to be interviewed as it is important we hear from them about the work they do. The interviews take about an hour (which is usually in work time and paid) and the interview process uses a questionnaire that is part of the Pay Equity work assessment tool – Te Orowaru. The interviews are normally conducted with a union rep and an employer rep.
  
  
• 16 February 2024
  The hospice Pay Equity claim was expanded late last year to include all 27 hospices where NZNO has members. Work on this claim is just about to re-commence. 
  
  
• 15 December 2023
  The claim has been acknowledged by the employers’ representatives and members should have heard from their employer that they have received a Pay Equity claim on their behalf. The employer must also advise other workers who are not members but do the same or similar work that they too are covered by the claim. The next steps will be to get the milestone reports submitted to the oversight group. Each Pay Equity claim has an oversight group set up that includes Government and Te Whatu Ora representatives. The purpose of the oversight groups is to guide and support the parties to the claim through the process.
  
  
• 1 December 2023
  We raised this claim in early October. However, having taken advice we have withdrawn the original claim that covered a representative group of six employers and have re-raised the claim with all 27 hospices where NZNO has members. We expect work on this claim will start apace in the new year.

Links to email updates sent to members

• 17 July 2024 - Hospice Pay Equity Claim - Update