Employment Relations Bill - NZ First Concerns
Employment Relations Bill New Zealand First Concerns
Clause 3 & 4
Concerns about application and
the fact that the employer/employee relationship is given
such a low standing.
Clause 5
The definition of
‘working day’ needs to be clearly defined.
Clause 5 and 6
- Contractors
The effect of these clauses is to create a
situation where many contractors would be deemed to be
employees, thus requiring employers to take on additional
costly obligations in respect of employees.
Clause
13
Gives union monopoly rights over collective
contracts.
Clause 22 – Union Access to Work
Places
Union access should be restricted to situations
where an employee has given the union bargaining or
representation authority, and has the permission of the
employer which will not be unreasonably withheld.
Clause
33 – Communications
In a sound industrial relations
environment it is essential that employers and employees
communicate freely and directly. A sub-clause in 33
prohibits this.
Clause 33 –Confidentiality of
Information
It is unfair and could lead to disastrous
results in a competitive environment to require companies to
provide sensitive information to unions and thereby
competitors.
Clause 37 – Committee to Recommend Codes of
Good Faith
There is no specific provision providing for
small business to be represented on this committee.
Clause
40 – Minister may approve own Code of Good Faith
This
gives the Minister the right and the ability to override the
committee’s determination of the Code of Good
Faith.
Clause 49 – Initiate Bargaining
This clause
gives the right for unions to initiate bargaining 2o days
earlier than an employer may.
Clause 54 – Multi-Employer
Bargaining
The clause could give the right to a few union
members to force a company to have to be involved in a
collective agreement. All employees should be
balloted.
Clause 61 – Collective Agreements
This clause
requires a union to be signatory to a collective, cementing
in the union monopoly over such. Should provide for
employee’s representatives to sign.
Clause 64 –
Enforcement of Collective Agreements
Clause gives rights
to union to enforce a collective agreement that has expired
for a year whilst the employer cannot.
Clause 66 –
Continuity of Employment
This clause is draconian and
could leave a company in a position to pay employees
additionally for up to twelve months in the event of closure
or redundancy. The compliance costs are likely to be huge.
It is a major disincentive to employing more
people.
Clause 70 – Employee Who Resigns From Union But
Not As Employee
This punishes individuals who resign from
a union.
Clause 71 – New Employees
Placing the
obligation on the employer to give notice to new employees
of the collective agreement and all the detail as per clause
71(3) is increasing an employer’s compliance costs and
obligations whilst distorting the employee’s freedom to
choose between collective representation and individual
negotiation. Also by dictating that an individual’s
contract cannot be inconsistent with the collective means
that an employer cannot negotiate an individual contract
appropriate to their individual circumstances. This is too
prescriptive and stifling on businesses, especially seven
day a week operations. It also applies to part-time and
casual employees which makes it extremely
unworkable.
Clauses 75 & 76 – Terms and Conditions of
Employees
Prohibits non-union employees having a
collective contract.
Clause 81 – Fixed Term
Contracts
This clause severely limits the ability of
employees to arrange fixed term contracts. There are often
sound reasons for fixed term contracts and, provided they
can be mutually agreed between employer and employee, should
be an acceptable employment agreement.
Clause 83 – Unfair
Bargaining for Individual Contracts
This clause, as
worded, appears to open the door for all sorts of personal
grievance claims under the guise of diminished
capacity.
Clause 85 – Employment Relations Education
Leave
The obligation to provide paid union education
leave is a real cost to small employers and a further
disincentive for increasing staff numbers.
Clause 88-96 –
Employment Relations Education Leave
The generous
entitlements proposed create a major additional cost for
employers and are especially severe on small businesses.
Further, there is no specific provision for employers having
any input.
Part 8 – Clauses 97-111 – Strikes and
Lockouts
Under these clauses employees are allowed to
strike for a collective agreement, to obtain a
multi-employer collective contract, and on the grounds of
safety and health.
It prohibits an employer from using replacement labour during a strike but does not prohibit striking workers taking up other employment. This has the potential for a few employees to, in some circumstances, hold the employer, the industry, and sometimes the country, to ransom until their demands are met.
Clause 107 –
Strikes in Essential Services
Employment Court should
have power to order employees back to work in circumstances
if necessary for public health and safety and economic
wellbeing.
Schedule 1 – Essential Services should be updated.
Clause 111 – Performance of Duties of Striking or
Locked Out Employees
This clause severely restricts the
ability of companies to handle strike situations. An effect
will be to close businesses down with loss of employment.
It is therefore contrary to Government aims to increase the
level of employment.
Clause 116 – Employment Relationship
Problems - Provision of Information
The requirement for
all employers to give all employees at the beginning and at
the end of their employment a copy of schedule 2 is extreme.
It is encouraging vexatious personal grievances to be lodged
when there are no grounds, by actively showing employees the
meaning of doing so.
Clause 128 – Employment Relationship
Problems - Extension
Extending the 90 day window for
lodging a personal grievance if the employee is so
traumatised by the matter or if the employer failed to give
the employee schedule 2 on termination is unacceptable. 90
days is more than sufficient time to decide to lodge a
grievance.
Clause 245 – Liability of Directors and
Officers of a Body Corporate
This is unacceptable in that
it imposes totally unreasonable personal liability
responsibilities on company directors and officers.
Part
10 – Institutions – Clauses 156-232
There is significant
concern about:
- compulsory mediation process;
-
ability of mediators;
- mediators being employed by
Labour Department;
- the establishment and the role of
the Employment Relations Authority (Clauses 168-170);
and
- the Powers of Authority (Clause
171).