Disabled people to receive equal employment rights

Disabled Persons Employment Promotion (Repeal and Related Matters) Bill
Third reading speech

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21 March 2007
Disabled Persons Employment Promotion (Repeal and Related Matters) Bill
Third reading speech

This Bill ensures that disabled people have access to the same employment conditions, rights and entitlements as other New Zealanders.

Repealing the Disabled Persons Employment Promotion Act 1960 is an important step in ensuring that the abilities, potential, contribution, and rights of people with disabilities are recognised. For 47 years, disabled people have not had the same employment rights or protections as other New Zealanders.

The Act is out of step with New Zealand and international human rights law.

Repealing the Act reflects this Labour-led government's approach to disability issues as set out in the New Zealand Disability Strategy. Disabled people have told us they want a fully inclusive society where they have the same opportunities as other New Zealanders - including participating in training and employment, and to receive fair remuneration for the work that they do. I would have expected that all members of Parliament and New Zealand society share these expectations.

Repealing this outdated legislation is part of a package of wider changes aimed at ensuring that the voice of disabled people in New Zealand is heard and acted upon. We have undertaken extensive consultation with disabled people and their families, and with service providers, over the wider package of reforms. Nearly 100 submissions were received on the Vocational Services Review alone.

The Bill was prepared from the findings of the 2000 Vocational Services Review and referred to the Social Services Committee on 26 May 2004. The Committee received and considered 16 submissions on the Bill, four supplementary submissions and 13 oral submissions. All submissions on the Bill supported the intent of the repeal, though some submissions expressed concerns about its implementation. Some submitters were worried that the move to paying the minimum wage would force some sheltered workshops to close.

The intention of the repeal is not to close sheltered workshops. This is not, and never has been, the aim of this Bill. Yes, the Bill will mean changes for sheltered workshops. Yes, sheltered workshop providers will need to look at the financial aspects of their operations. But no, it doesn't mean that sheltered workshops will be left to close down, and no, it doesn't mean that people will be sent home with nothing meaningful to do.

The repeal will mean that all sheltered workshops will have to pay everyone they employ at least the minimum wage, unless an individual worker has an exemption. It will also mean that all people who work in sheltered workshops will have access to holiday and sick leave entitlements. All the conditions every other New Zealand worker enjoys.

By repealing the Act, disabled New Zealanders will finally be valued for what they can do, rather than being defined by the place in which they work.

This Bill also amends the Minimum Wage Act 1983 to make the system for considering minimum wage exemption permits more focused and transparent.

Minimum wage exemption permits are not new; they have existed for some time under the Minimum Wage Act, as under-rate workers' permits. We are extending this option to sheltered workshops and changing the name to minimum wage exemption permits.

These permits are a pragmatic, straightforward option that ensures that real, paid employment opportunities exist for as many people as possible.

Workers who are significantly and demonstrably limited in their work because of a disability can be issued with a minimum wage exemption permit. But unlike the blanket exemptions that exist now, these permits reflect the individual contribution and skills of the worker.

Before considering whether a minimum wage exemption permit is appropriate, the employer must have made reasonable accommodations to facilitate people carrying out the requirements of the job. Labour Inspectors will only give someone an exemption permit if the worker and employer agree that there is a good reason why such an exemption should be granted. Throughout the process Labour Inspectors will ensure that the interests of employees with disabilities are protected.

The Bill is part of a package of wider changes aimed at improving employment opportunities for disabled people. Our government has committed significant funding to ensure sheltered workshops and disabled workers are supported in making these changes.

This includes increasing supports to help people work in the open labour market, providing wider access to supported employment services and the further development of transition from school services.

Some providers may move out of sheltered work -should a provider wish to move out of sheltered work then the Ministry of Social Development will work with that provider and their clients and employees to ensure that people with disabilities continue to have appropriate options, including access to open, paid employment, available to them.

I am pleased to say that these wider changes have resulted in over 9,000 disabled people gaining jobs compared to an estimated 3,000 in employment in 2001. A trebling of the number.

I am also heartened by the attitude of many sheltered workshop operators who have already started making changes in anticipation of the repeal. Operators are making their organisations more commercially viable so that they can pay their employees proper wages. Some employers are already paying their employees the minimum wage or more.

Recently, the New Zealand Federation of Vocational and Support Services launched their "Principles of Excellence for Employment Support".

These "Principles of Excellence" were developed with the specific intention of assisting organisations in their transition from providing sheltered work to providing employment services in line with the "Pathways to Inclusion" strategy.

The support from Vocational and Support Services is further evidence of the timeliness in repealing this outdated and discriminatory legislation. Many organisations no longer want to be known as sheltered workshops, recognising that this designation is now inaccurate and disparaging.

Disabled people have told us that they want a range of options for participating in the labour market. A modern economy should be able to provide this for all it's citizens. This Bill ensures that the disabled worker no longer wears the entire cost of their disability by being underpaid for the value of their work.

I wish to acknowledge the efforts made by all those organisations, parents, families and employers who made submissions to the Social Services Select Committee and I acknowledge the time and thought that the members of the Committee expended in deliberating on this Bill. I want to also acknowledge the hard work of officials over a number of years.

I commend this Bill to you as an important piece of legislation that will finally ensure that disabled people are recognised for what they can do, not what they can't do.

This Bill has been a long time coming - the repeal was first signalled in 2000, with the launch of the Vocational Services Review.

This repeal is necessary to reflect our Labour-led government's approach to disability issues as set out in the New Zealand Disability Strategy. It is time we realised that it is now 2007 - not 1960 - and that disabled people deserve to have the same employment rights and obligations as all other New Zealanders.

ENDS

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