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Labour Party workplace relations and safety policies
In light of the clear election result, we consider it timely to summarise Labour’s main policies in relation to workplace relations and safety.
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From information on the Labour Party’s website, these are:
Increase the entitlement to paid sick leave from five days to 10 days per year (within the first 100 days of Government); Continue to increase the minimum wage (including to $20 an hour in 2021); Guarantee Contracted Public Service Workers the Living Wage; Continue to address pay equity by ensuring there are better records of pay equity across New Zealand, including by ethnicity, age and gender; Legislate and implement fair pay agreements – these are between unions and employers and set minimum conditions of employment for all workers in an industry or organisation (what appears to be a return to the historic “national awards” system). These would also cover employees and dependent contractors; Strengthen and simplify the Holidays Act including: – Introducing legislation to simplify leave calculations; – Allowing employees to take sick and annual leave when needed with leave accruing over time instead of as a block after 6 or 12 months employment; – Allowing employees to take bereavement and family violence leave as needed; Amend the Employment Relations Act to make it harder for collective agreements to be undermined – to prevent passing on of collective provisions to non-Union employees; • Protect vulnerable workers by: – Legislating protections for dependent contractors by developing a statutory regime which will include allowing contractors to bargain collectively, requiring written contracts, and introducing a duty of good faith for dealings between contracting parties. This is likely to include many people currently working under “independent contractor” agreements; – Recognising security guards as vulnerable workers; – Raising the age for workers to be allowed to perform hazardous work to 16 and ensuring all workers have the right to elect health and safety representatives; – Ensuring that Seafarer Welfare Centres provide better services. During the election campaign, Labour also announced that it will create an additional paid public holiday.
Based on the above, it is highly likely that there will be changes to employment law in the next three years. The cost of many of these policies will fall on employers.
Danny Jacobson and Trudy Marshall are Partners at Employment Lawyers Tauranga and they specialise exclusively in employment law. They operate our Employment Helpline for NZCB members: phone 07 928 0529 for 10 minutes free advice on any employment related issues. (The above is by its nature general, and is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice.)
