New Zealand's largest secondary school lost five teachers after a charter school was established nearby which could offer better salaries.

This could be the year you get the pay rise you've been waiting for, writes Bernard Hickey.

The pay packets offered to retail workers jumped almost 10 per cent last year, according to a major jobs website, in another sign of improving fortune for the sector.

The South Island has had bigger median income gains than the North over the past seven years, Census figures show.

New Zealand shows the widest pay discrepancy between men and women across company size and years experience, according to a new survey.

The Remuneration Authority has approved a "restrained" pay rise for MPs, giving each backbencher $3,500 more a year and raising PM John Key's salary by $9500.

Executives who are fired from their companies would be less likely to get excessive golden handshakes under a private member's bill being promoted by National list MP Paul Goldsmith.

Westpac's New Zealand boss earned more than $3 million in 2013 despite taking a pay cut.

BNZ boss Andrew Thorburn has made more than $400,000 from selling shares in the bank's parent company National Australia Bank (NAB).

Mayor Len Brown will propose a "living wage" of $18.40 for all Auckland Council staff at a council meeting today.

When the dust settles on his sex scandal, Auckland Mayor Len Brown has another delicate task ahead - setting a lower salary for the new boss of the Super City.

I'd like to be able to vote for a political party that would commit to winding back top pay in the public sector to $400,000, writes Tim Hazledine.

KiwiSaver for minimum wage earners, schemes shutting down and KiwiSaver for the self-employed...

Before you decide to support the living wage campaign, consider these three issues.

Higher minimum wages are also sometimes called for here and overseas as a way to introduce a "living wage", writes Kim Campbell.

Finance Minister Bill English has warned hard-won gains that saw the Government's year-end finances come in better than forecast would be wiped out under Labour's "lolly scramble" policies.

Labour MP Andrew Little believes there's widespread support for the living wage campaign, to bump up wages to at least $18.40 an hour.

Wage and salary earners' incomes rose 4.8 per cent at the median over the year ended June, but the increase reflected an ageing of the working population as well as higher rates of pay.

The Key Government's indifference to the plight of the unemployed has been one of the least appealing aspects of its skewed order of priorities, writes Bryan Gould.

The Government should stop giving contracts - and knighthoods - to companies that pay their bosses more than three times their lowest-paid workers.

Principals are getting their salaries topped up by as much as $29,000 for extra work .

The need for builders and carpenters in Auckland and Christchurch is driving a booming national job market, new figures show.

Some essential technology roles in Auckland are seeing big increases in remuneration.

A Dunedin primary school has become the first in New Zealand to pay its entire staff a living wage of at least $18.40 an hour.

More than a third of New Zealanders say they are feeling the financial pinch more than they were two years ago with less disposable income.

Figures showing the average wage for New Zealand workers is more than $70,000, have been slammed as unrealistic and sending the wrong signal to new immigrants.

Women earn between $8000 and $20,000 less than their male colleagues in some New Zealand industries - despite being more qualified.

Top real estate agents are making up to $1.5 million a year as they cash in on soaring property prices.

Hamilton has become the first city council in New Zealand to approve paying all staff a 'living wage', and Auckland and Wellington are considering following suit, a campaigner says.