The NZCTU strongly endorses the recommendations of the Tripartite Working Group on Better Protections for Contractors, which it was a member of, and encourages Minister Michael Wood to take action on the recommendations made.

“Hundreds of thousands of working people are engaged as contractors in New Zealand,” say Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges “some legitimately, but many of these workers should be employees and have been incorrectly hired as contractors either deliberately by unscrupulous employees wanting to avoid minimum standards or because of genuine confusion about the law.

A priority for the CTU is the need for a much clearer legal delineation to be given between contractors and employees to provide certainty for working people and employers and ensure that anyone who is not a genuine contractor, has the rights and protections associated with being an employee. This requires a stronger and clearer definition of ‘employee’ in the Employment Relations Act.

Ansell-Bridges says “Many contractors report working very long weeks with no job security, sometimes for less than the minimum wage with no access to leave entitlements, collective bargaining or kiwisaver contributions. These people deserves decent work, and the recommendations in this report would help deliver that.”

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