Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698752827347.pdf (New Zealand)
Reprint as at 26 November 2018 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Public Act 2017 No 24 Date of assent 14 June 2017 Commencement see section 2 Contents Title Commencement Part 1 Preliminary provisions Purpose Overview Interpretation Transitional, savings, and related provisions Act binds the Crown Part 2 Care and support worker entitlements and employer obligations Extinguishing and barring claims under Equal Pay Act 1972 by care and support workers 8 Existing claims extinguished and potential claims barred Page 2 2 3 3 3 6 7 7 Note Changes authorised by subpart 2 of Part 2 of the Legislation Act 2012 have been made in this official reprint.
Note 4 at the end of this reprint provides a list of the amendments incorporated.

This Act is administered by the Ministry of Health.
1 s 1 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 Wage rates Minimum hourly wage rates Weekend and night penal rates Previous agreements that require allowances for service or qualifications unenforceable Support for training Employers must ensure care and support workers are able to gain qualifications Enforcement Compliance dispute is employment relationship problem Care and support worker may recover unpaid or underpaid wages Failure to comply with training obligations constitutes grounds for personal grievance Relationship between this Act and employment agreements This Act overrides terms and conditions of employment agreements Employer and care and support worker may negotiate more favourable terms and conditions Part 3 Funding of employers and miscellaneous provisions Subpart 1—Funding of employers Funding amounts increased Records to support additional funding Subpart 2—Consequential amendments and repeal of this Act Amendments to Employment Relations Act 2000 Repeal of this Act Schedule 1 Transitional, savings, and related provisions Schedule 2 Minimum hourly wages 7 8 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 12 13 14 The Parliament of New Zealand enacts as follows: Title This Act is the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017.
Commencement This Act comes into force on 1 July 2017.

1 2 2 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Part 1 s 5 3 (1) (2) Part 1 Preliminary provisions Purpose The purposes of this Act are— (a) (b) to implement the settlement agreement described in subsection (2); and to apply the terms of that agreement to employers and care and support workers who were not party to the agreement.
The settlement agreement was signed on 2 May 2017 by or on behalf of the Crown, ACC, the 20 DHBs, E tū Incorporated, the New Zealand Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi Incorporated, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Incorporated, and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi Incorporated.

The agreement relates to pay equity issues for care and support workers.
4 Overview To achieve its purposes, this Act— (a) (b) (c) (d) extinguishes existing claims and bars future claims by care and support workers under the Equal Pay Act 1972; and specifies minimum hourly wage rates payable by employers to care and support workers for work performed during the period starting on 1 July 2017 and ending on 30 June 2022; and requires employers to provide support for care and support workers to attain qualifications; and provides for the Ministry of Health, DHBs, and ACC to pay additional funding to employers towards the cost of employers’ obligations under this Act.
5 Interpretation In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— ACC means the Accident Compensation Corporation continued by section 259 of the Accident Compensation Act 2001 care and support services— (a) means— (i) services funded under a funding agreement that are performed in a person’s home (including residential care facilities, retirement vil- lages, and rest homes) or workplace for the purpose of— (A) assisting the person to continue to live in the person’s home or in the community (such as personal care and household management services); or 3 Part 1 s 5 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 (B) (C) assisting a person who has a disability to work in the com- munity; or supporting the person’s rehabilitation from an injury covered by the Accident Compensation Act 2001 and to achieve and sustain the person’s maximum level of partici- pation in everyday life; and (ii) long-term residential care in a hospital or a rest home that is assessed as required under section 137 of the Social Security Act 1964 or sections 27 to 29 of the Residential Care and Disability Support Services Act 2018; but (b) does not include mental health services care and support worker— (a) means a person— (i) who is an employee of an employer; and (ii) whose work for that employer primarily involves providing care and support services; and (b) for the purposes of section 8, includes a person— (i) who was previously an employee of an employer; and (ii) whose work for that employer primarily involved providing care and support services continuous employment, in relation to a care and support worker,— (a) includes any period during which the worker is— (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) on paid holidays or leave under the Holidays Act 2003; or on parental leave under the Parental Leave and Employment Pro- tection Act 1987; or on volunteers leave (within the meaning of that term in section 2(1) of the Volunteers Employment Protection Act 1973); or receiving weekly compensation under the
 Accident Compensation Act 2001 as well as, or instead of, payment from the employer; or on unpaid sick leave or unpaid bereavement leave; or on unpaid leave for any other reason for a period of no more than 1 week; or (vii) continuously employed by a previous employer, if— (A) (B) the worker transferred from the previous employer to the current employer; and the transfer was a result of restructuring (within the mean- ing of that term in section 69B of the Employment Rela- tions Act 2000); but 4 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Part 1 s 5 (b) unless otherwise agreed between the worker and the worker’s employer, does not include unpaid leave that is not referred to in paragraph (a)(v) or (vi) DHB means an organisation established as a DHB (District Health Board) by or under section 19 of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 employee means a person who is an employee within the meaning of that term in section 6(1)(a) or (b)(i) of the Employment Relations Act 2000 employer— (a) means— (i) (ii) (iii) a person, trust, or partnership that receives funding from the Min- istry of Health, ACC, or a DHB to provide care and support ser- vices; and the person or persons who have the legal authority to make deci- sions on behalf of an employer to which subparagraph (i) applies, if the employer does not itself have separate legal personality; and a person, trust, or partnership that provides care and support ser- vices on behalf of an employer to which subparagraph (i) applies as a subsidiary or a subcontractor; and (iv) Canterbury DHB, Hutt DHB, Nelson Marlborough DHB, Waikato DHB, Wairarapa DHB, and West Coast DHB (each established by section 19 of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000); but (b) does not include a natural person who receives funding directly from the Ministry of Health, ACC, or a DHB towards the cost of care and support services for the person or a family member of the
 person (for example, under a family care policy within the meaning of that term in section 70B of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000) funder means the Ministry of Health, a DHB, or ACC funding agreement means,— (a) in relation to funding agreements to which the Ministry of Health or a DHB is a party, an agreement between a funder and an employer for the employer to provide care and support services in exchange for payments from the funder; and (b) in relation to funding agreements to which ACC is a party, an agreement between ACC and an employer that is titled— (i) (ii) Home and Community Support Services; or Individual Residential Support Services; or (iii) Residential Support Services 5 Part 1 s 6 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 level 2 qualification means— (a) (b) a level 2 New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing issued by NZQA; or a qualification (whether from New Zealand or overseas) that is recog- nised by the relevant industry training organisation (within the meaning of that term in section 2 of the Industry Training and Apprenticeships Act 1992) as being equivalent to the qualification described in paragraph (a) level 3 qualification means— (a) (b) a level 3 New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing issued by NZQA; or a qualification (whether from New Zealand or overseas) that is recog- nised by the relevant industry training organisation (within the meaning of that term in section 2 of the Industry Training and Apprenticeships Act 1992) as being equivalent to the qualification described in paragraph (a) level 4 qualification means— (a) (b) a level 4 New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing issued by NZQA; or a qualification (whether from New Zealand or overseas) that is recog- nised by the relevant industry training organisation (within the meaning of that term in section 2 of the Industry Training and Apprenticeships Act 1992) as being equivalent to the
 qualification described in paragraph (a) Ministry of Health means the department of the Public Service referred to by that name NZQA means the New Zealand Qualifications Authority established under Part 20 of the Education Act 1989 ordinary hourly wage, in relation to a care and support worker,— (a) means the worker’s wage for an hour’s work in the worker’s substantive position; and (b) does not include any other amounts paid, including an amount paid for working overtime, for working at night or on a weekend, or for acting in a position for which there is a higher hourly wage.
Section 5 care and support services paragraph (a)(ii): amended, on 26 November 2018, by section 459 of the Social Security Act 2018 (2018 No 32).

6 Transitional, savings, and related provisions The transitional, savings, and related provisions (if any) set out in Schedule 1 have effect according to their terms.

6 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Part 2 s 9 7 Act binds the Crown This Act binds the Crown.
Part 2 Care and support worker entitlements and employer obligations Extinguishing and barring claims under Equal Pay Act 1972 by care and support workers 8 (1) Existing claims extinguished and potential claims barred This section applies to— (a) (b) any claim by or on behalf of a care and support worker under the Equal Pay Act 1972 relating to the provision of care and support services that was lodged but not determined before the commencement of this Act; and any potential claim by or on behalf of a care and support worker under the Equal Pay Act 1972 relating to the provision of care and support ser- vices during the period starting on 1 July 2011 and ending on 30 June 2022 (or any part of that period).
(2) The claim or potential claim cannot be pursued and must be treated as if it had been withdrawn or is incapable of being lodged.

(3) To avoid doubt, this section does not affect— (a) (b) any claim or potential claim under the Equal Pay Act 1972 relating to the provision of care and support services after 30 June 2022; or any claim or potential claim under the Equal Pay Act 1972 that does not relate to the provision of care and support services.
Wage rates 9 Minimum hourly wage rates (1) An employer must pay a care and support worker no less than the greater of— (a) (b) the applicable hourly wage set out in Schedule 2; and the ordinary hourly wage that the employer was required to pay the worker under the terms and conditions of employment in place between the employer and the worker immediately before the commencement of this Act.
(2) This section does not apply in respect of— (a) (b) time spent by the worker in providing excluded services; or time spent by the worker in travel between clients within the meaning of that term in section 4 of the Home and Community Support (Payment for Travel Between Clients) Settlement Act 2016; or 7 Part 2 s 10 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 (c) a period of time spent by a worker overnight during which the worker, under the terms of the worker’s employment agreement, is— (i) (ii) (iii) required to be at the worker’s workplace; and allowed to sleep at the workplace while on duty; and required to be available to attend to the worker’s duties during the course of the night as necessary.
(3) In this section,— excluded services means— (a) mental health services; and (b) (c) services for which the employer receives funding from a funder other than funding under a funding agreement or under section 18; and services for which the employer receives funding from the Ministry of Social Development or the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki means the department of the Public Service referred to by that name Ministry of Social Development means the department of the Public Service referred to by that name workplace has the same meaning as in section 5 of the Employment Relations Act 2000.
10 Weekend and night penal rates (1) This section applies to a term or condition of an employment agreement that— (a) (b) was agreed before the commencement of this Act; and requires an employer to pay a care and support worker an allowance, based on the worker’s hourly wage, for working on a Saturday or a Sun- day, or after 5 pm on any day.
(2) For work to which section 9 applies performed on or after the commencement of this Act, the term or condition must be read as requiring the employer to pay the allowance at the same dollar value, per hour, as would be required to be paid based on the worker’s ordinary hourly wage immediately before the com- mencement of this Act.
Example Before the commencement of this Act, Alice is a care and support worker whose employment agreement provides that her wage is $18 an hour and that she will be paid an extra 50% of her hourly wage for work she performs on a Sunday (an addi- tional $9 an hour).

On and from the commencement of this Act, Alice’s wage is $21 an hour.
Alice’s employer must pay Alice an allowance of $9 an hour for work she performs on a 8 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Part 2 s 14 Sunday.

This is the same dollar value as the allowance Alice was entitled to before the commencement of this Act, rather than 50% of Alice’s new hourly wage rate.
11 Previous agreements that require allowances for service or qualifications unenforceable (1) This section applies to a term or condition of an employment agreement that— (a) (b) was agreed before the commencement of this Act; and requires an employer to pay a care and support worker an allowance to recognise the worker’s length of service or level of qualifications.
(2) To the extent that the term or condition applies to work to which section 9 applies, the term or condition has no effect and is not enforceable.
Support for training 12 Employers must ensure care and support workers are able to gain qualifications (1) An employer must take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that a care and support worker is able to attain— (a) (b) (c) a level 2 qualification within the first 12 months of the worker’s continu- ous employment with the employer; and a level 3 qualification within the first 36 months of the worker’s continu- ous employment with the employer; and a level 4 qualification within the first 72 months of the worker’s continu- ous employment with the employer.
(2) If a care and support worker is not able to attain a qualification within the time required by subsection (1), the employer must take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that the worker is able to attain the qualification as soon as is reasonably practicable.
Enforcement 13 Compliance dispute is employment relationship problem A dispute about whether an employer is complying, or has complied, with this Act— (a) is an employment relationship problem within the meaning of that term in section 5 of the Employment Relations Act 2000; and (b) must be resolved in accordance with that Act.
14 Care and support worker may recover unpaid or underpaid wages An employer’s failure to pay a care and support worker an amount required by this Act, either in whole or in part, constitutes payment of wages or other 9 Part 2 s 15 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 money at a rate lower than that legally payable for the purposes of section 131 of the Employment Relations Act 2000.
15 Failure to comply with training obligations constitutes grounds for personal grievance An employer’s failure to comply with section 12 constitutes grounds for a per- sonal grievance under section 103(1)(b) of the Employment Relations Act 2000.
Relationship between this Act and employment agreements 16 This Act overrides terms and conditions of employment agreements (1) An employment agreement that contains a term or condition that excludes, restricts, or reduces a care and support worker’s entitlements under this Act— (2) 17 (a) (b) has no effect to the extent that it does so, regardless of whether the term or condition was agreed before or after the commencement of this Act; but is not an illegal contract under the Illegal Contracts Act 1970 or the Con- tract and Commercial Law Act 2017.
Each employment agreement between an employer and a care and support worker that was agreed before the commencement of this Act is deemed to be varied in accordance with sections 9 to 12.
Employer and care and support worker may negotiate more favourable terms and conditions Nothing in this Act prevents an employer and a care and support worker from agreeing to a term or condition in an employment agreement that requires the employer to— (a) (b) pay the worker more than is required under this Act; or provide more support for the worker to gain a qualification than is required by this Act.
Part 3 Funding of employers and miscellaneous provisions Subpart 1—Funding of employers 18 Funding amounts increased (1) A funder must pay an employer with whom the funder has a funding agreement additional amounts over and above the amounts required by the funding agree- ment towards offsetting the additional costs faced by the employer as a result of this Act.
10 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Part 3 s 20 (2) The funder must determine the additional amounts, taking into account— (a) (b) the increased wage costs faced by the employer as a result of this Act; and the increased training costs faced by the employer as a result of this Act; and (3) (4) (c) any other matter that the funder considers appropriate.

The funder’s determination of the additional amounts is final.
This section applies only in respect of funding agreements entered into before the commencement of this Act.

19 Records to support additional funding (1) An employer must keep a record, for each care and support worker employed by the employer, of— (a) (b) the qualifications, if any, held by the worker; and the length of time that the worker has been continuously employed by the employer.
(2) An employer must, on the request of a funder with whom the employer has a funding agreement, provide to the funder— (a) (b) the records kept under subsection (1); and the wages and time record kept by the employer for each care and sup- port worker under section 130 of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

(3) An employer who fails to comply with subsection (1) or (2)(a) is liable to a penalty imposed by the Employment Relations Authority under the Employ- ment Relations Act 2000.
Subpart 2—Consequential amendments and repeal of this Act 20 (1) (2) Amendments to Employment Relations Act 2000 This section amends the Employment Relations Act 2000.

In section 148A(3), replace “or the Home and Community Support (Payment for Travel Between Clients) Settlement Act 2016” with “the Home and Com- munity Support (Payment for Travel Between Clients) Settlement Act 2016, or the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017”.
(3) After section 161(1)(m)(ii), insert: (iia) under the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017: (4) After section 223(1)(a), insert: (ab) the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017; and (5) After section 236(4)(b), insert: 11 Part 3 s 21 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 (ba) the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017: 21 (1) (2) Repeal of this Act Sections 9 to 20 and Schedule 2 are repealed on 1 July 2022.
The remainder of this Act is repealed on 1 July 2028.

12 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Schedule 1 Schedule 1 Transitional, savings, and related provisions s 6 Part 1 Provisions relating to this Act as enacted There are no transitional, savings, or related provisions relating to this Act as enacted.
13 Schedule 2 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 1 (1) Schedule 2 Minimum hourly wages s 9 Hourly wage rates for workers employed before 1 July 2017 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2021 $20.50 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 $21.50 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018 $19.00 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019 $19.80 The hourly wage for a care and support worker who is employed by an employer immediately before 1 July 2017 is the greater of the worker’s hourly wage under clause 2 and the applicable amount in the following table: Worker’s length of service with employer Less than 3 years 3 years or more but less than 8 years 8 years or more but less than 12 years 12 years or more, if subclause (2) applies 12 years or more, if subclause (2) does not apply $26.00 $23.50 $22.50 $21.50 $23.00 $21.00 $24.50 $23.00 $25.50 $27.00 $24.50 $25.00 $23.50 $21.00 $20.00 $22.50 (2) This subclause applies to a care and support worker if— (a) (b) (c) the worker commenced employment with the employer on or after 1 July 2005; and the worker has not attained a level 4 qualification; and the worker’s employer has provided the support necessary for the worker to attain a level 4 qualification.
(3) In this clause, a care and support worker’s length of service is the length of time that the worker has been continuously employed by the worker’s current employer (but, if paragraph (a)(vii) of the definition of continuous employment in section 5 applies, includes the length of time that the worker was continu- ously employed by the worker’s previous employer).
14 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Schedule 2 2 Hourly wage rates for workers employed on or after 1 July 2017 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018 $19.00 The hourly wage for a care and support worker who commences employment with an employer on or after 1 July 2017 is the applicable amount in the fol- lowing table: Worker’s level of qualification No relevant qualification Level 2 qualification Level 3 qualification Level 4 qualification 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019 $19.80 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 $21.50 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2021 $20.50 $23.00 $20.00 $23.50 $25.50 $21.00 $21.00 $27.00 $21.50 $23.00 $24.50 $25.00 $22.50 3 (1) Adjustment for year ending 30 June 2022 This clause applies if the compound annual growth rate for the Labour Cost Index for the period starting on 1 July 2017 and ending on 30 June 2021 is more than 1.7%, in which case the result of the following formula will be greater than 0.017: (a ÷ b)0.25 − 1 where— a b is the Labour Cost Index at 30 June 2021 is the Labour Cost Index at 30 June 2017.
(2) If this clause applies, the hourly wage for a care and support worker for the period beginning on 1 July 2021 and ending on 30 June 2022 is calculated as follows: a × (((b − c) ÷ c) + 1) where— a b c is the worker’s hourly wage under clause 1 or 2 is the Labour Cost Index at 30 June 2021 is the Labour Cost Index at 30 June 2017.

(3) In this clause, Labour Cost Index means the Labour Cost Index (all sectors, salary and wage rates, including overtime) published by Statistics New Zea- land.
15 Notes Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 Reprinted as at 26 November 2018 Reprints notes 1 General This is a reprint of the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 that incorporates all the amendments to that Act as at the date of the last amendment to it.

2 Legal status Reprints are presumed to correctly state, as at the date of the reprint, the law enacted by the principal enactment and by any amendments to that enactment.
Section 18 of the Legislation Act 2012 provides that this reprint, published in electronic form, has the status of an official version under section 17 of that Act.

A printed version of the reprint produced directly from this official elec- tronic version also has official status.

3 Editorial and format changes Editorial and format changes to reprints are made using the powers under sec- tions 24 to 26 of the Legislation Act 2012.

See also http://www.pco.parlia- ment.govt.nz/editorial-conventions/.
4 Amendments incorporated in this reprint Social Security Act 2018 (2018 No 32): section 459 Wellington, New Zealand: Published under the authority of the New Zealand Government—2018 16