The Crown has asked to intervene in a landmark carer pay case because of its wide-reaching implications for public policy, a spokesman for Attorney-general Chris Finlayson confirmed yesterday.
Lower Hutt carer Kristine Bartlett's win in the Employment Court in August sent shockwaves through the aged-care sector.
The court accepted the Service and Food Workers Union's argument that carers' wages could be compared with those in other occupations in terms of whether they constituted gender discrimination.
The case was taken by the union on behalf of Ms Bartlett, whose pay was $14.32 an hour after 20 years in the sector.
Employer Terranova Homes and Care appealed, and the case was to have been heard in the Court of Appeal this week, but had been delayed until February to give the parties more time to prepare, Service and Food Workers Union national secretary John Ryall said when contacted.
He welcomed the Crown's application to become involved.
''Given the Government's going to have to pay the bill in the end, I think it's important they are [intervening].
''I think this is the Government saying we have a major interest in this, given we're the funder.
''We hope that they're intervening to support us, but we're not holding our breath.''
If its application to intervene was accepted, the Crown would make submissions based on its understanding of the law, Mr Finlayson's spokesman said.
''The Attorney-general has applied to intervene in order to present the Crown's understanding of the law, because the case involves a matter of public policy that could have wider implications,'' he said.
''If the Attorney-general is granted leave to intervene, the Crown will be making submissions to the [Appeal] Court on questions of law and so it's not appropriate to pre-empt those submissions in the media.''
