Changes to the Holidays Act mean part-time workers will no longer get the minimum sick leave entitlement. Photo / 123rf
One of New Zealand’s largest unions has blasted the move to scrap minimum sick leave entitlement for part-time workers as “idiotic”.
The change comes as part of the Government’s reform of the Holidays Act, which was announced today.
But business advocates said the reforms to the Holidays Act will bring clarity and fairness.
Under the new scheme, part-time employees will have their sick leave calculated by the number of hours they worked.
“The reduction of sick leave entitlements for part-time workers is an idiotic move,” said Workers First Union general secretary Dennis Maga.
“There is no defensible reason for a person working part-time to have access to less sick leave than someone working fulltime.”
Maga said that regardless of hours worked, everyone was prone to getting sick.
“In the retail sector, we’re already hearing that people are being forced to use up annual leave to cover periods of illness beyond their statutory leave entitlements.
“Those who work customer-facing roles are much more likely to become ill, and it’s in everyone’s interest to ensure they can rest and not risk spreading illness by being forced into work to make ends meet.”
But Alan McDonald, head of advocacy and strategy at the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA), said the changes to the act will bring much-needed clarity and simplicity to leave entitlements.
“Employers and employees should be able to more easily understand and apply the rules and that’s a win for everyone.
“Small to medium-sized businesses should welcome the changes as it brings clear calculations with few other considerations being required.”
McDonald said the shift to an hours-based accrual system for annual and sick leave is a practical and fair solution, particularly for part-time and casual workers.
“The current system has led to many millions in remediation payments across both the public and private sectors. This reform will help prevent those liabilities in future.
“It’s also fairer. Under the current rules, someone working one shift a week could receive the same sick leave entitlement as someone working fulltime. That imbalance needed to be addressed.”
Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young called it a “really positive move”.
“The current system is overly complex and difficult for businesses to comply with, especially for SMEs. But we do know that larger businesses have struggled as well.
“We’ve been calling for sick leave to be on a pro-rata basis for part-time workers for a long time. It’s much more equitable for everyone in the business and makes more sense that if you’re part-time, you get an allocation of sick leave that’s attributable to the hours that you work.”
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) welcomed the changes to the Holiday Act that will provide sick, bereavement and family violence leave from day one of employment, remove the unfairness for those returning from parental leave, increase casual loading and provide for pay statements.
However, it said some people will lose out in the changes proposed, including removing commission and bonuses from holiday pay, reducing sick leave for part-timers and removing leave accruing for workers on ACC.
“The CTU has long advocated for improvements to the act. We remain deeply concerned about the earnings that have been denied working people due to misapplication of the current act,” said NZCTU president Richard Wagstaff.
“When this review commenced under the last Government, businesses and unions agreed that the Holidays Act should be simplified but that reforms should not result in a reduction in worker leave entitlements.
“The proposed changes do not fully honour that understanding – they will reduce sick leave entitlements for part-time workers (and holiday pay for those on commission).”
He said the impacts will disproportionately fall on Māori, Pasifika, women and other vulnerable workers, who are more likely to be in part-time and insecure work.
“It is good that the act will be simplified but that didn’t need to come at the expense of the hard-won entitlements of working people,” Wagstaff said.