BusinessNZ admits error in mood survey
A business confidence survey has been criticised for asking a question that forced chief executives to answer negatively about the Government’s proposed employment law reform.
The ‘‘mood of the boardroom’’ survey, commissioned by the
and conducted by lobby group BusinessNZ and the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA), is described as a key barometer of business sentiment.
It asks more than 500 business owners how they feel the Government is performing on a range of issues, and has been running on an annual basis since 2005.
This year’s survey included a question that asked: ‘‘Are you concerned by any of the proposed changes to employment law?’’
Respondents were asked to tick any of six concerns, from ‘‘unions may enter workplace without notification’’, to ‘‘businesses with more than 20 employees not allowed 90-day trials’’.
There were no ‘‘none of the above’’ or ‘‘other’’ options and respondents were not allowed move onto the next question without ticking at least one box.
BusinessNZ communications manager Kathryn Asare said this mistake in the survey design meant some respondents may have answered incorrectly.
‘‘The answers to this question will therefore be disregarded.’’
A corrected version of the survey would be sent to all respondents, she said.
One respondent had flagged the issue with BusinessNZ since it was sent out last week, she said.
First Union secretary Dennis Maga said the survey lacked validity and should not be taken seriously.
‘‘Their questioning is far from statistically sound – in fact, it’s completely geared towards the answers they want,’’ he said.
Both groups were blowing the business community’s concerns out of proportion to suit their own agendas, he said.
Falling business confidence has become a hot political topic, and surveys such as ‘‘mood of the boardroom’’ are often held up as key barometers of how the economy is tracking.
BusinessNZ and the EMA have both been highly critical of the Government’s planned employment law reforms.
On Monday the Employment Relations Amendment Bill was reported back to Parliament, and is likely to be passed with only minor amendments.
BusinessNZ has labelled the bill ‘‘harmful and oppressive’’ and has gone as far as considering taking a claim to the International Labour Organisation or International Court of Justice on parts of the bill.