Thompson lives another day as board meeting cancelled
UPDATE 10am: EMA special board meeting cancelled. Association will decide its next move "within a week."
UPDATE 10am: EMA special board meeting cancelled. Association will decide its next move "within a week."
UPDATE 10am: An Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) board meeting to consider the fate of chief executive Alasdair Thompson following his comments linking women's periods to productivity has been cancelled.
The association had been scheduled to hold a special meeting today to discuss Mr Thompson's controversial remarks during a Newstalk ZB interview last week and calls for his resignation.
Mr Thompson said that women were paid less because they took sick days when they had their period.
A spokesman said the meeting had been cancelled to give the EMA board "a reasonable time frame" to consider the issue.
The board would likely be putting out a statement "within the week", he said.
Two apologies from him have failed to quell the furore, particularly as he was unable to back up his claims with facts.
Last year, women in the public service had just 1.6 more sick days than men, according to an Official Information Act request made by the Public Service Association.
6am: Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) head Alasdair Thompson’s comments regarding women in the workplace are regrettable, Prime Minister John Key said as he left for a trip to India.
The EMA has called a special board meeting, scheduled for later today, to discuss the controversy.
Mr Thompson caused a public furore last week when he implied women got paid less than men "because once a month they have sick problems".
"Not all women, but some do, they have children they have to take time off to go home and take leave."
His comments drew criticism from former Pime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley, current cabinet ministers Paula and Kate Wilkinson and various business leaders.
Mr Thompson had made his remarks during a NewstalkZB interview on Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty's bill seeking to require employers to record the gender of their employees along with pay levels.
Speaking to media en route to India, Mr Key described the comments as “regrettable”.
“In my capacity as a private sector individual anyway, I’ve employed a lot of men and women. In that entire time I’ve never seen a difference between the number of sick days men and women take.”
Mr Key said New Zealand was doing well when it came to equality, and that reports showed a high participation of women in the workplace and that the pay gap was closing.
“I’d hate to characterise the way New Zealand business treats the matter as reflective of comments from Alasdair Thompson,” Mr Key said.
“New Zealand prides itself as a country where we’ve had a woman prime minister, a woman governor-general, a woman chief justice, and women hold very, very significant and leading roles in the economy.”
On Friday Mr Thomson issued an "unreserved and unqualified apology" for his comments.