After getting rid of Fair Pay Agreements and fully reinstating 90-day trials late last year, the Government is turning its attentions to further overhauls within the workplace this year. What can we expect?
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden outlined some of those priorities during a speech earlier this week, saying she wanted to make changes to the Holiday Act and to health and safety regulations, amongst other things.
Van Velden said she was asking officials for advice about any changes, however policy released before the election last year has made it clear what ACT would like to happen in those areas.
Changes to the Holiday Act
Van Velden told the Auckland Business Chamber on Tuesday that "delivering improvements to the Holidays Act" was a top priority.
She said she would be getting feedback from stakeholders before releasing the policy issues being considered, however ACT’s election policy pushed for an hours-based accrual system for annual leave.
"Such a system would avoid the complex calculations that regularly stump payroll software and should therefore reduce compliance costs for employers," the policy document said.
What about public holidays?
Van Velden’s speech this week made no mention of changing New Zealand’s existing public holidays, however she did note the previous government had introduced the new Matariki holiday, which she said added to the costs of doing business.
ACT had previously pledged to remove one public holiday – January 2 – as a swap for Matariki, however Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in 2022 that National wouldn’t unwind a public holiday if elected.
The parties’ coalition agreement makes no mention of removing a public holiday this term.
Differences between employees and contractors
Employment laws are set to be ripped up as the Government sets off in a new direction in business and worker relations. (Source: 1News)
National and ACT’s coalition agreement does, however, include a commitment to ensuring "contractors who have explicitly signed up for a contracting agreement can’t challenge their employment status in the Employment Court".
Van Velden said this week she had asked for advice on policy options "to increase certainty in contracting relationships".
Dealing with personal grievances
As indicated in its coalition agreement, the Government is also looking at "simplifying" the personal grievances process.
Van Velden expanded on that somewhat during her speech this week, saying she had heard the process for pursuing a personal grievance claim can be "slow, costly, and incentivise employees to pursue grievances even where their behaviour has contributed to the employment relationship problem".
She said the Government was looking for advice around setting a high-income threshold above which a personal grievance can’t be pursued, and removing eligibility for remedies if the employee is at fault.
ACT’s pre-election policy also included removing the ability for the Employment Relations Authority to unilaterally reinstate an employee – it said reinstatement needed to be an employer’s decision.
Health and safety regulations
ACT’s coalition agreement with National said health and safety laws would be reformed.
Van Velden said the country’s health and safety regulations was an area she was most excited about.
"On the campaign trail, I heard from businesses and workers alike who are currently either struggling to understand the reason for some costly health and safety regulations, or are struggling to comply with the rules as they stand."
Van Velden said the Health and Safety at Work Act was almost 10 years old and that it was a good time to assess whether it’s still fit for purpose.
What do people make of these moves?
Business NZ approved of the Government’s directions, with chief executive Kirk Hope saying the previous government did not get the balance right.
“What you want is not more and more rules; what you want is to understand the rules are working and that people are healthy, safe and productive and I’m not sure that's working in the current set of rules,” he said.
However, unions called the proposed workplace changes "horrifying" and a "total attack on workers which is completely unwarranted".
Labour’s workplace relations spokesperson Camilla Belich also said she was concerned about a potential "erosion of rights" in the Government’s proposed changes.
"I would really be looking to the other coalition partners that the policy that's implemented is what the Government wants, and not just ACT party policy," she said.
Van Velden has said New Zealanders will be hearing more about her proposed changes "in the coming months".
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