Z Energy (Z) has welcomed the Government's announcement that it plans to introduce pay transparency reporting for companies with over 250 employees – something the energy provider already does.
Z was one of the 13 business signatories to the 'Mind The Gap' campaign to the Prime Minister asking the Government to legislate pay gap reporting. It has set a public goal to close its gender pay gap by the end of 2024 and has an average base salary ratio (women to men) of 0.99 to 1.0.
Z's Chief Financial Officer, Nicola Law, said that the reporting requirements' announcement will help increase gender pay transparency across the nation's largest companies and will ultimately enhance diversity by attracting diverse candidates to roles and organisations, which also assists with closing pay gaps.
"At Z, we're transparent about our commitment to achieving and maintaining pay parity and equity. While we've progressed over the past ten years, there's more to do. We wholeheartedly support legislation that will support our goal to close the gap," said Law.
"Over ten years ago, we signed up for the UN's Women's Empowerment Principles. In March 2020, we received the Gender Tick and signatories to Aotearoa New Zealand's first pay gap registry."
Several years ago, Z Energy started reporting on its gender pay gap in its annual reports because there's nothing like making a public statement about ongoing progress.
"The good news is we're doing pretty well with representation at an executive level, with a 50/50 gender split in our Executive team, but this is not the case in other parts of our business."
Law continued that the business was looking to narrow its gender pay gap and has made significant progress in the last 18 months. She added it was necessary to note that this disparity can shift significantly as people move into and out of Z.
"One of our greatest strengths is the diversity of our people, and we must ensure that there are equal opportunities for everyone working at Z."
