Employers get say on holiday law

By PAULA OLIVER

Employer representatives will get a chance to have their say on possible changes to the Holidays Act as the Government moves to clarify what the controversial laws mean.

Labour Minister Paul Swain yesterday told a select committee that a working group made up of representatives of Business New Zealand, the Council of Trade Unions and employers from major industry sectors would look at "unintended consequences arising from implementation of the act".

The hot topic Swain wants addressed immediately is whether staff who call in sick on a public holiday are entitled to a time-and-a-half payment.

He admitted that with Labour Weekend occurring in late October, the timeframe was tight should legislation be needed.

But Swain said he would still send any proposed legislation to a select committee for consideration.

He said that once the group got together "other issues might come out of the woodwork" and said he saw those as being the second part of a two-step clarification process.

This week employers said they were insulted by Swain's request for them to prove that they were facing increasing numbers of staff calling in sick on public holidays.

Yesterday Swain defended that stance, saying he had never intended to make the names of those businesses public.

A suggestion that small business operators be represented on the working group was greeted positively by Swain and noted by officials.