Still Time for Government to Listen on Employment Law Change
Businesses are urging the Government to make changes to its Employment Relations Amendment Bill with the time still
available, says Wellington Chamber of Commerce CEO John Milford.
"The bill was reported back from select committee with no significant changes despite thousands of businesses writing in
over recent months to highlight how it will negatively affect them," says Mr Milford.
"The bill contains a series of policy changes that will add to the costs of doing business, lower productivity, and harm
innovation, all while doing very little to improve the position of workers.
"Submissions to the select committee, and directly to the Government, made it clear how the bill could be improved, but
unfortunately these ideas have been ignored.
"The 'Fix the Bill' campaign, led by New Zealand's four main business associations along with Business NZ, called on the
Government to continue with 90-day trial periods, abandon plans to force businesses to settle collective agreements,
ensure union representatives notify workplaces of their intention to visit, and give businesses the option to
participate or not in multi-employer collective agreements.
"As the bill progresses through Parliament there remains an opportunity for the Government and its coalition partners to
make sensible changes to improve how the bill works.
"This bill marks an opportunity for the Government to demonstrate it is listening. Confidence in New Zealand's economic
direction rests on the Government's ability to change course in favour of productivity-enhancing policies, particularly
those that help small and medium businesses across the country."
ENDS