Employment Standards Legislation Bill - Submission to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee [2015] NZHRCSub 9 (6 October 2015)

Last Updated: 3 December 2015

^{Employment Standards}

^{Legislation Bill - submission}

Jackie Blue, Equal Employment Opportunities

^Commissioner

^{Rebekah Armstrong, Senior Human Rights Specialist}

^{John Hancock, Senior Legal Advisor}

^{Employment Standards}

^{Legislation Bill - Part 1}

Strengthens paid parental leave

– new definition of primary carer leave and paternity leave with partner’s leave 

– Extending leave payments to non-standard workers and a wider range of primary carers 

– More flexibility regarding how leave can be taken 

– Extending paid parental leave to 18 weeks 

^{Support 26 weeks parental leave}

• Meets/exceeds NZ’s international obligations

• Improves economic well-being for women and their families

• Minimise the effect of poverty

• Maintain mothers’ links to the labour market

• Assists parents with child-rearing responsibilities during this critical period of infancy.

• Promotes gender equality

^{State Services Commission Human Resource}

^{Capability Survey 2014 –}

^{Public Service Pay-Gender Gap}

Dr Jackie Blue presentation Chartered ⁴

^{Accountants NZ July 2015}

^{Promotes Gender Equality}

 Significant gender stereotypes exist – women who have children may be perceived as not serious about their job

 Women may be offered lower-level and lower quality jobs and not ‘stretch assignments’ on return from maternity leave

 “Daddy bonus”

 Pay differences that occur in ‘caring responsibility’

^{phase are never caught up and widen over time}

^{Tracking Equality at Work}

^{http://tracking-equality.hrc.co.nz/}

• 66% of adult minimum wage earners in 2014 were women.

• In all ethnicities men earn more than women

• At all ages people of European ethnicity are paid more per hour than people from other ethnicities.

• Compounding vulnerabilities – difference between a European male and a Pacific woman is

^{$7 per hour or almost 30%}

• Disabled people are over-represented amongst low-income workers.

^{Future workforce}

Demographic changes means that every who is able to work has the opportunity to work

• Women

• Older workers

• Maori ,Pacific, Asian and other ethnicities

• Youth

• Migrants

^{Employment Standards}

^{Legislation Bill - Part 2}

Zero Hour Contracts

• The NZ Council of Trade Unions estimates that 635,000

^{New Zealanders are in ‘insecure work’, with 95,000}

^{workers having no usual work time.}

• Workers who are excessively concerned about income security perform less well at work and may impact negatively with health

• Further amendments need to be considered

– Provision of minimum hours in individual employment agreement

– Minimum wage protections for those who are ‘on call’ for work or can have shifts cancelled without notice.