Explainer: Social Worker Pay Equity

 

In 2018, a pay equity claim was settled for Oranga Tamariki (OT) social workers, acknowledging that they were underpaid and significantly increasing their pay. However, this was limited to OT, and therefore social workers within the community sector (including those in Iwi, kaupapa Māori, NGO and all community social services) did not get a pay increase.  

A pay equity claim has been lodged against a representative group of community providers employing social workers. There are two elements to this claim: firstly, the OT settlement established that OT social workers were undervalued on the grounds of sex-based discrimination and secondly, social workers working outside of OT do comparable work, and are substantially undervalued. There is a clear pay equity case. The campaign is highlighting the need for community social workers to get comparable pay to their OT counterparts.   

Currently, there is a 34.02% pay gap between OT social workers and social workers in the group subject to the claim, despite the same qualifications, experience, work and clients. This looks like: 

• An average hourly rate of $28.51 for these community social workers versus $43.21 for OT social workers. 
• A $60,000 yearly salary for a new starter at OT and $100,000 at the top, compared with a median pay of $58,662 for these community social workers. 
• Social workers in the Iwi and community organisations in the claim are earning on average $25,000 a year less than those working in OT. 

 

The fundamental cause is the systemic and historic underfunding of the NGO and community sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. That is why this claim is so important, as it highlights wider problems in the sector that need to be addressed before pay equity can be achieved. An independent report by Martin Jenkins in 2019 found that New Zealand social service providers are underfunded by at least $630 million per year. Brenda says the pay equity campaign is “the most effective lever to produce more funding” to social services but is one of many efforts to address decades of underfunding, and is by no means the silver bullet.  

Fair and realistic funding is the key. NGOs cannot pay social workers any more than their funding allows them. It is not that they don’t want to increase pay, it is that Government funding means they can’t. This has contributed to the pay disparity as NGOs are unable to pay social workers a fair rate or retain them – “they are being poached by OT.” 

Everyone involved with the social worker pay equity claim agrees that pay equity cannot be delivered without an increase in Government funding.  

Other than “critical underfunding”, Brenda says this disparity also exists due to cultural and political misconceptions about the value of social work, indicated by the only recently introduced mandatory registration of social workers. These misconceptions extend to the work of community and NGO organisations like CNA, SSPA and SociaLink. Comparisons with business and Government sectors often deem the community sector as less professional, efficient and productive. Brenda says the opposite is true – community kaimahi are often more reliant on their own skills and more resourceful. 

However, Brenda is also clear that this campaign is not about diminishing the mahi of OT social workers. “It isn’t a competition; it is about the same work being done in different sectors. It is about levelling the playing field.” 

 

As with all Pay Equity claims, social work is a hugely female-dominated workforce. This contributes to the undervaluing of the work of social workers, as with all care work. Māori social workers are disproportionately impacted by this disparity, with more Tangata Whenua in the Iwi and community sectors than in Government. The community sector is experiencing compounded negative impacts because border closures and MBIE policies have limited a supply of social workers from overseas who are not eligible for skills-based visas.  

There are two age groups where Brenda has noticed that the pressure of this disparity is really felt: for older people thinking about retirement savings and younger people starting out in the workforce and thinking about the cost of families and a home. These financial vulnerabilities make it difficult for people to work where their passions lie or their skills are best suited. Instead, they accept jobs with Government because of the financial incentive.  

 

This has disrupted the collective knowledge-sharing and growth of the community sector and the inheritance of knowledge and mentorship from more experienced kaimahi. It could also mean the type of mahi community social workers do may suffer: preventative mahi, wrap-around services and long-term support. This mahi is often done to prevent the need for Government agencies, such as OT, to step in. 

Brenda emphasised that we cannot say that this disparity is affecting the quality of service delivery: “People are doing their utmost to mitigate any impacts”, including working unpaid hours. It should not get to the point of communities suffering and work standards falling for a call for pay equity to be answered. Pay equity is needed because the work of community social workers should be valued, as with all social workers.  

 

Currently, Brenda and the Pay Equity Team are beginning negotiations on behalf of social workers with the PSA. A bargaining strategy has to be formed and approved by the Government before bargaining begins.  

Effectively, they are working through two parallel processes at once - negotiating the pay equity claim with the PSA and working to develop and agree funding and a whole-of sector solution with the funders at the same time. This is complex because funding from social work comes from across the Government – health, justice, social development etc. This claim requires Government agencies to rethink and assess how they approach funding: matters such as contributory funding, underfunding and often a multiplicity of funders for the same provider. These are all important issues, and the claim highlights the problems with Government contracting systems, but they are also obstacles to the progression of the claim. 

There is also the additional complication that, though the original claim was a representative claim lodged against just five social work providers, Brenda and her team want the settlement to be extended to all social workers in the community sector or they won’t accept it. This whole-sector approach is a challenge for all parties involved. 

At this stage, contacting and connecting with all social workers in community, NGO and Iwi organisations is of vital importance, so the Pay Equity Team have a mandate to represent social workers across the motu. If they aren’t connected, they may not reap the benefits of the settlement.  

 

The most important thing is to get the word out to organisations in the community sector that provide social work. Brenda and her team need to be in contact with them so they can be consulted and represented in the claim, and end up benefitting from pay equity. Organisations employing social workers can join SSPA to get involved. Individual workers can have their voices heard and represented through the organisations advocating for pay equity – PSA and ANZASW.  

There is enormous strength in the Pay Equity Team representing the majority of social work providers in this matter. United action by employers is needed to support the pay equity claim and seek full funding to give effect to a settlement for all NGO social workers. 

• SSPA: Pay Equity
• Pay Equity Claim Background 
• ANZASW: Pay Equity
• PSA: Campaigning for Equal Pay
• SociaLink: Pay Equity
• SociaLink: Pay Equity FAQs