Govt shows its weakness: English
NZ First hailed for ‘putting foot down’ over trial periods
Opposition leader Bill English is commending New Zealand First for putting “its foot down” and preserving the 90-day trial for small businesses, a compromise which he says is a sign of a weak Government.
Guaranteed rest and meal breaks and greater union powers are also among measures in the Government’s bill to reform employment law, outlined by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Workplace Relations Minister Iain LeesGalloway.
Labour, NZ First and the Greens all shifted their positions on the controversial 90-day trial period, which allows employers to dismiss new workers without reason.
Under the bill, the trial period will only be available to businesses with fewer than 20 staff, which currently employ 29 per cent of workers. Larger firms can still use probationary periods, which do not allow for unjustified dismissal.
Labour had wanted to allow trial workers to challenge unjustified dismissals, while the Greens wanted to ditch the trial periods.
NZ First workplace-relations spokesman Clayton Mitchell said he would have been happy to keep trial periods for all firms while more information was sought about how effective they had been.
The Government has now agreed to gather more information.
The announcement followed ANZ’s quarterly Business Micro Scope survey, which showed that 29 per cent of small businesses were more pessimistic about the year ahead.
Ardern said keeping the trial period for small businesses was not a response to lower business confidence, but a response to New Zealand First lobbying, prompting Bill English to commend NZ First.
“It’s good to see NZ First put its foot down on behalf of small businesses . . . but why not for all businesses?”
English said the Government was “weak” because it needed three parties to agree in order to pass any major policy.
“This is essentially a weak Government.
“It can be influenced. I would say to NZ First and to small businesses out there, put pressure on this Government. Because these measures are not good for the economy. If they push back, they will get change.”
He said the Government needed to justify why the bill was needed.
“New Zealand now has the highest employment rate it’s ever had, a bigger proportion of the adult population in work than ever. These measures will cut across that, and will have the most impact on those who find it hardest to get into the workforce.” Others measures in the bill include: Guaranteed rest and meal breaks The ability to engage in low-level industrial action without the threat of pay deductions
The right to the same conditions as other workers on a collective agreement, if you’re a new worker
Guaranteed pay and conditions, if you’re a vulnerable worker and your employer changes
A requirement to include pay rates in collective agreements
Removing the ability of employers to opt out of multi-employer collective agreements
Requiring employers to provide union information to new staff
Restoring reinstatement as the primary remedy to unfair dismissal A union will:
Have reasonable access to a workplace to initiate collective bargaining
Be given reasonable time in a workplace to conduct its duties
Be bound, along with employers, by a duty to conclude negotiations in good faith
The bill will be introduced next week and pass its first reading with support from Labour, NZ First and the Greens.
Lees-Galloway said rules around rest and meal breaks would include exceptions for workplaces such as air traffic controllers, where it was not practical to take breaks at the same time: “[The bill] sets some very tight criteria. Very few businesses will qualify, but it tries to address exactly the issue raised by air traffic controllers.”
The Government will also conduct more research into the trial periods, because there has been only one study, by Motu in 2016. That found no significant positive or negative effects from trials.
Other workplace policies have already been put into law, such as lifting the minimum wage to $16.50 an hour by April, and extending paid parental leave to 26 weeks by 2020.
The Government still plans to abolish youth rates in the next 12 months.