CTU MEDIA RELEASE 11 December 2008
Bill tabling reveals workers were mislead over protections available
"The Minister of Labour has misled the public on the level of protections available to employees unfairly treated by the
90 Day Fire at Will Bill," Council of Trade Unions President Helen Kelly says.
Parliament has just begun pushing through an amendment to employment law to remove unfair dismissal protections for a
third of the workforce who are in small businesses.
"Now the Government has finally tabled its Bill we can see that access to mediation and to be treated in good faith only
apply to employees. Of course, once someone is sacked they are not an employee, and the Bill makes it clear all rights
to challenge the dismissal are removed."
"The Bill is no more than what we always said it was - a breach of the fundamental right to be treated fairly at work.
It even goes as far to enable dismissal to occur without written notice and it removes the rights of these employees to
get the reason for that dismissal put in writing."
"Why employers shouldn't have to at least have the courtesy of telling people what went wrong shows how little National
understands the reality of the implications of being dismissed for working people," Helen Kelly said.
ENDS