14 April, 2011Employment law changes that came into force 1 April have given all employers the right to dismiss employees within the first 90 days "trial" period, with no rights to personal grievance procedure. This rule previously applied for small businesses of fewer than 20 employees.
NEW ZEALAND: The regressive changes also include restrictions on trade union access to the workplace, relaxation of the fairness tests on dismissals, empowerment of employers to bypass the union in collective negotiations, the possibility to exchange holiday days for money, and to transfer public holiday days without payment, and the right for employers to demand a medical certificate for one day's sick leave.
There is nothing fair in the workplace law changes according to ICEM-affiliated Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU).
Click to sign the EPMU's petition.
"We are approaching employers with either collective bargaining claims to stop things like the 90 day no rights law or the new rules on medical certificates being used by employers or seeking a pledge that they will not reduce themselves to the low level that the law represents," stated EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little. Some employers have already agreed not to use the bad new law, including Telecom, which has 7,000 employees.