Workers in unskilled jobs have averaged a 0.1 percent decline in pay this year, compared with a 1.7 percent increase in pay rates for skilled workers and management, according to a survey by the Employers and Manufacturers Association.Overall pay rates dr
Workers in unskilled jobs have averaged a 0.1 percent decline in pay this year, compared with a 1.7 percent increase in pay rates for skilled workers and management, according to a survey by the Employers and Manufacturers Association.
Overall pay rates dropped for a quarter of the 215 job types in the survey, while 8 percent of positions saw no change in pay.
Most staff were not having their pay cut and some were getting small increases, but generally new appointments were on lower rates, said David Lowe, the association's employment services manager.
Employees were receiving an average pay increase of 3 percent, compared with 2.5 percent last year, but employers were forecasting slightly lower pay reviews over the next year, he said.
There were more falls in pay rates for more job positions this year to August, the period covered by the survey, than the previous year, a sign that the full effects of the recession were still emerging.
The uneven economic recovery was also reflected in a wide variation in pay rate changes between sectors, he said.
The average number of sick days taken was 5.3.
The survey covered 39,052 employees in 501 companies, across 18 industry sectors.
Meanwhile, the uneven pay rates for women in a separate report has been criticised by the National Council of Women (NCWNZ).
A Human Rights Commission study released yesterday showed that women were under-represented in some key positions, and were sliding backwards in others.
The private sector's commitment to promoting women into leadership was encouraging, but there was less leadership from the public service, council president Elizabeth Bang said.
"A gender pay gap of 38.81 percent (for one government agency) is unacceptable, particularly when considered in the context that only 10 out of 34 government agencies were below the national average gender pay gap of 13 percent."
The percentage of female public service chief executives had fallen since the last report in 2008.
Seven government agencies were unaware that starting salaries had been identified as a factor in income disparity between men and women.
"Women do have equal rights and it is long overdue that their pay packets were equal too," Ms Bang said.
