Which ever way the votes are cast, the Election will have consequences for Employers and employees alike.  This article looks at the prospects for employment relations under National or Labour.

There may be eight players in the election game but the outcome is certain.  Come the 18^th September we will have either a National or Labour led government.

The war of the policies has been quite public with taxation taking a front seat but what about employment relations?  What will the landscape look like if Labour continues or National takes over the reigns?

Both believe that they have the welfare of employers and employees at heart, offering a more productive, high-wage economy with more flexible employment relations but what exactly are both offering and what will this mean for the average employer/employee.

Employment Relations Act

Labour will continue to play with the current Employment Relations Act making amendments to ensure the protection for vulnerable workers is as effective as they had originally intended.  The recent Employment Court case between Crest Commercial Cleaning and the cleaners from Southern Cleaning Services did not have an outcome that Labour would have preferred.  Crest, who won the contract for cleaning Kindergartens from Southern, had a long-standing practice of engaging franchisees. The Southern staff refused to become franchisees, and tried to transfer their employment to Crest on the same terms and conditions which they had at Southern. They failed.   

Labour also intends to add greater protection for dependent contractors, although they go no further in explaining how. In addition they intend to increase the employment rights of workers employed by temp agencies and labour hire companies, allowing them to be covered by the collective agreement in force at the workplace in which they are temporarily employed.  Temporary workers provided by agencies are currently deemed to be employed by the agency, and it is the agency that is responsible for paying wages and leave entitlements.  If temporary staff are to be covered by various collectives, who then will be employing them?

Entitlements to meal and break times were once laid down in law but were removed under the Employment Relations Act 2000.  Although OSH would recommend that employers have a duty to provide breaks, Labour intends a return to meal and break entitlements through out the working day.

There is currently no legal obligation to provide redundancy compensation; it is at the discretion of the employer.  Labour could change that.  They intend to investigate the current redundancy law and provision.

National will bring the Employment Agreements Act, an amalgamation of the old Employment Contracts Act 1991 and the newer Employment Relations Act 2000. Cherry picking what they see as the best of both legislations and rolling back the Labour's re-regulation of the workplace.  They will repeal every provision of the Amendments 2004.

National’s new “Employment Agreements Act” would give employers and employees the same rights in employment contracts.  Significantly, the union’s monopoly on negotiating collective agreements will be removed.  They would no longer have an automatic right of entry and union meetings will be held outside working hours where possible. New employees will still have a choice whether to be covered by a collective agreement but will have to make this decision immediately and not be given 30 days.  There will be no preference provision and deduction of union fees will be by negotiation and not compulsory.  Finally trade union education will be abolished.

National would establish a 90-day probation period for new workers. The intention to make it easier to employ staff particularly where there is some element of doubt.  A true probationary period will provide the option for either party to end the employment relationship within this period without personal grievance procedures applying.  National don’t say what steps an employer will have to take but this will bring New Zealand into line with the OECD.

Staff appointed to mediation and adjudication services will be employed based on their abilities to do the job, not for any politically correct reason and National will review personal grievance procedures.

Holidays Act

Labour would continue with the current Holidays Act but fine tune it possibly including protection for and portability of leave entitlements when employees move from one company to another.  They don’t explain how this will work, or who will be responsible for accrued annual leave. 

National on the other hand will change the definition of `relevant daily pay', reverting back to ‘ordinary pay’.  Payment for public holidays, sick days and bereavement leave will therefore not include overtime and productivity payments.  They intend to reduce compliance costs for employers, and in particular deal with the problems around statutory holidays including a review of the payment formula for public holidays.

In 2007 employees become eligible for a fourth week of annual leave.  National would allow this extra week to be paid out rather than taken as annual leave if both parties agree.

While one side would appear to support the needs of employers and the other supports the demands of employees, it is clear that there are significant alterations planned by both parties, some more far reaching than others.