Is your pay your own business?

A member’s bill that would ensure employees can discuss their remuneration details with others without the fear of action being taken by their employer, regardless of what their contract says, has been making its way through Parliament.
At present, employers can include pay secrecy clauses in contracts, which if breached can result in disciplinary action being taken. The Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill (Bill) would amend the Employment Relations Act 2000 to make these clauses ineffective, in relation to adverse treatment, by making “adverse conduct for a remuneration disclosure reason” a new ground for a personal grievance. Adverse conduct would include dismissal, withholding terms of employment, conditions of work, fringe benefits, promotion, or other opportunities afforded to similar employees.
The Bill would not be retrospective, in that the conduct by an employer being challenged must have occurred on or after the Bill’s commencement date.
Although the intention of the Bill is to enable people to discuss their pay without repercussions, the Bill’s general policy statement makes it clear, the wider objective is that it “would lead to greater transparency in pay and allow any pay discrimination to be more easily identified and remedied”. Similar pay secrecy prohibitions have been coming into effect overseas, including in the US and the UK, to help address pay transparency issues.
With the three opposition parties and National indicating their continued support, there is good reason to expect the Bill to be passed into law.