Coordinator and Front Line Manager Claim: Background information
Summary
The Coordinator and Front Line Manager claim, raised under the Equal Pay Act by PSA and E tū unions, represents frontline managers and coordinators across various employers (including CCS Disability Action) with the goal of eliminating sex-based pay differentiation and maintaining pay equity.
The rigorous pay equity process involves establishing grounds for undervaluation based on gender, interviewing coordinators and front line managers to build job profiles, assessing those profiles using a pay equity tool, and comparing them with male-dominated professions.
Frontline managers and coordinators provide support to care and health professionals.
The settlement criteria involve agreeing on pay rates without sex-based differentiation and agreeing on regular reviews to maintain pay equity.
Parties have agreed the claim is arguable, but progress is slow due to resource allocation and government involvement. Staff should stay informed and support the claim’s advancement.
Background
The Coordinator and Front Line Manager Claim is a pay equity claim raised under the Equal Pay Act 1972 (as amended in 2020). The claim was first formally raised in September 2022 by the Public Service Association (PSA) and E tū unions on behalf of frontline managers and coordinators employed by multiple employers, including CCS Disability Action.
The claim was raised with multiple employers across three sub sectors – disability, home and community, and mental health and addictions. These employers all employ staff who perform front line management and coordination of support workers within these sectors.
The claim aims to ensure that pay rates do not differentiate on the basis of sex and that pay equity is maintained.
The coverage of this claim is broadly defined, but at CCS Disability Action, we believe it will cover our coordinators, senior coordinators, early intervention specialists and service managers.
The process
Pay equity claims are created through a rigorous process to systematically establish whether sex-based undervaluation exists for a profession and, if it does, how much that occupation has been undervalued compared with male-dominated occupations.
The Pay Equity Process is outlined in the Equal Pay Act and overseen by the Public Service Commission. It involves key milestones that are required to be signed off at each stage of the process. The process involved:
Establishing that there are grounds to believe frontline managers and coordinators are undervalued based on gender.
Interviewing frontline managers and coordinators about what they do and using that information to build a profile of their job.
Assessing that profile using a pay equity tool that scores different aspects of the work – including the skills, experience, responsibility, and effort required.
Assessing the frontline managers and coordinators’ job profile against comparators in male-dominated professions that require similar levels of skills, responsibilities, effort, and working conditions.
Comparing how these roles are valued differently, and determining how much this work has been undervalued.
Defining the role
In the context of the claim frontline managers and coordinators undertake a range of duties. These include: induction, supervision and coaching of care and support staff and clinical teams, managing rosters, managing health and safety, build organisation culture, ensure resources are available and fit for purpose, ensure compliance with policies/procedures and audits/standards, provide reports on services, administration duties, build and maintain relationships with clients and whānau/family members, including resolving complaints. Also, when necessary frontline managers and coordinators provide direct care and support to clients and whānau/family members. These roles allow care and support workers and registered health professionals to provide connection, community, dignity, and independence to hundreds of thousands of people across Aotearoa.
Parties to the claim
There are two parties to the claim.
Unions
Public Service Association (PSA)
E tū
The named employers are:
CCS Disability Action Incorporated (CCS Disability Action Northland Inc., CCS Disability Action Auckland Inc., CCS Disability Action Waikato Inc., CCS Disability Action Bay of Plenty Inc., CCS Disability Action Manawatu Horowhenua Inc., CCS Disability Action Wairarapa Inc., CCS Disability Action North Taranaki Inc., CCS Disability Action South and Central Taranaki Inc., CCS Disability Action Tairawhiti Hawkes Bay Inc., CCS Disability Action Wellington Inc., CCS Disability Action Nelson Marlborough Inc., CCS Disability Action Canterbury and West Coast Inc., CCS Disability Action South Canterbury Inc., CCS Disability Action Waitaki Inc., CCS Disability Action Otago Inc., CCS Disability Action Southland Inc., CCS Disability Action Whanganui Inc.).
HealthCare of New Zealand Limited
Pathways Health Limited
Spectrum Care Limited
The Lifewise Trust
Idea Services Limited
Wider impacts
These employers were chosen as a representative group from the wider health and disability sector. The purpose of this approach was to enable the established pay equity process to proceed more efficiently. Unions and employers are aiming to form an agreement that can immediately be extended to all frontline managers and coordinators outside of the named employers. This is called a 'representative claim'.
If a pay equity settlement is reached, it is anticipated that the government will consider extending the benefits of the settlement to workers performing the same work in the wider care and support sector.
Settling the claim
The claim is settled under section 13ZH of the Equal Pay Act when:
The parties agree on pay rates that do not differentiate on the basis of sex.
A process is agreed upon to review the remuneration to ensure pay equity is maintained, including the frequency of reviews.
The settlement must be in writing and include a description of the work to which the settlement relates, the remuneration agreed upon, and any other terms and conditions of employment.
Current status
CCS Disability Action is actively participating in the process.
The claim has reached a milestone where employers have agreed that the claim is “arguable,” meaning it warrants investigation. However, progress has been slow due to resources being focused on other claims, and the government’s involvement in the process.
Staff members who are part of this claim should stay informed about the progress and developments of the claim. They may also participate in any discussions or actions organised by their unions to support the advancement of the claim.
For more detailed information, you can contact your union representative or Kate.Single@ccsDisabilityAction.org.nz.