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Pay Equity

In April 2017, the Government signed a $2 billion pay equity settlement which will be delivered to New Zealand’s 55,000 care and support workers over the next five years.

As per the Care and Support Worker (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017, a compulsory minimum wage structure will come into effect from 1 July 2017. The new wage rates will be mapped against the employees’ current qualifications or their service with their current employer.

The Ministry of Health has specified these qualifications must be a Level 2, 3 or 4 New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing from an NZQA accredited provider or a qualification that has been assessed as relevant and equivalent by Careerforce.

The Government’s $2 billion pay equity settlement will be delivered to New Zealand’s 55,000 care and support workers.

Equivalency Requirements

As the Industry Training Organisation for the Health and Wellbeing sectors, Careerforce has been tasked by the Ministry of Health to lead establishing the equivalency of existing or expired care and support qualifications to New Zealand Health and Wellbeing qualifications.

We are now receiving requests about qualifications that may or may not be relevant to the care and support role. Please note it can take considerable time and analysis to establish the relevancy of these qualifications.

Employers and employees are encouraged to consult our comprehensive list of care and support qualifications to determine whether their qualification is equivalent to current New Zealand Health and Wellbeing Certificates (Levels 2, 3, & 4) for pay equity purposes only.

If your employees hold a qualification that is not on this list, we can try to map this to the appropriate New Zealand qualification, or offer a training solution to bring employees up to the qualification level required.

Careerforce are committed to the development of a valued, recognised and qualified aged care, home and community and disability workforce that meets the needs of clients, their family and whanau.

To view a list of care and support qualifications equivalent to current New Zealand Health and Wellbeing Certificates (Levels 2, 3, & 4) for pay equity purposes only, click here.