The four-step review process  assists organisations to check if rewards and participation in the full range of job types and job levels are affected by gender and if there is a difference in men’s and women’s experiences of respect and fairness.

The review process gathers quantitative and qualitative information to identify what is working well in the organisation. It also identifies opportunities to progress pay and employment equity for women. This is a transparent process engaging employees, employers and unions.

Outline of the review process

Stage One: Preparation

A project manager is engaged to facilitate the process and a representative committee is formed. The project manager prepares the base data for the committee’s first meeting by distributing and analysing the staff survey and runs the Pay and Employment Equity Analysis Tool (PEEAT), using payroll data. The project manager trains the committee using the Department of Labour’s pay and employment equity review education and training package. Communications are sent to alert staff to the purpose of the review and to encourage their active participation.

Stage Two: Four steps to producing a review report

Each of the four steps below is a chapter of the review report.

1. Step one/chapter one:  Creates a gender profile of the organisation and identifies significant gender issues
2. Step two/chapter two:  Explains significant gender differences
3. Step three/chapter three: Plans for moving towards gender equity by addressing the issues identified. This includes a strategy for implementation, monitoring and evaluation
4. Step four/chapter four: Describes and evaluate the review process.

Stage Three: Implementation

This occurs once the organisation has developed its review report and strategic plan to progress pay and employment equity for women. Regular progress reporting to employees and to the chief executive help to maintain focus and momentum.

Resources to support the review process

Streamlined and robust tools and resources available from the Department of Labour include:

• the Pay and Employment Equity Analysis Tools (PEEAT)
• Guide for Human Resources managers and Project Manager
• Communications Guide including staff survey
• Review Report Templates to assist in analysing and recording the review and the strategies to progress pay and employment equity.
• Case studies
• Overview reports

Case studies

Eleven case studies have been prepared to share the stories of some pay and employment equity reviews. Each case study includes a brief description of the organisation and a gender analysis of its staff profile. The case studies describe how the reviews were carried out, the findings made and the responses agreed. They include reflections of project managers, review committee members and other participants in the reviews. Case studies have been used to introduce the review process before it begins, and organisations have used their own case study to communicate the results of completed reviews to employees. The case studies on the DVD are:

• Department of Labour (summary and extended)
• Education Review Office (summary and extended)
• State Services Commission (summary and extended)
• Parliamentary Services
• Government Communications Security Bureau
• Parliamentary Counsel Office
• Gisborne District Council
• Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Overview papers

Two overview papers dealing with reviews have been prepared by the Department of Labour, and are included on the Pay and Employment Equity Toolkit. They are: Public Sector Pay and Employment Equity Reviews: Overview Report June 2009; and the Pay and Employment Equity Review process: Models and Operation.

Benefits of carrying out a pay and employment equity review

The benefits to an organisation can be far-reaching, including: identifying and understanding what practices are working well; the causes of unintentional barriers; and what needs to happen to progress equity for women. The benefits can be delivered to individual women and female-dominated occupations generally. There can also be benefits to the organisation, the business, and employee and union relations. Finding the right people for the job, retaining them, keeping them upskilled (and therefore more fully utilised) can result in increased productivity. This can enhance an organisation’s reputation both in attracting people to work for them and in the reputation of the services they deliver.