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90 day fire at will periods are a failed experiment
Government research agrees with CTU; 90 day fire at will periods are a failed experiment
Source: CTU
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Working people are pleased that research commissioned by the Government is consistent with what working people have being saying - that 90 day fire at will periods are a failed experiment.
CTU Secretary, Sam Huggard reflects, "In 2009 when the National Government introduced 90 day fire at will periods people working in some of our lowest paid industries began to tell us horror stories of how some bad employers were using the new law to exploit working people. Things only worsened when in 2011 the provision was extended to all workplaces.
"Good employers tell us that good appointment processes are the best way to ensure that working people, employers and roles are well matched. These 90 day periods do not give people a "foot in the door". The research shows there is no evidence for the Government’s promise that this law would give vulnerable workers a better chance of a job. It just makes them more vulnerable.
The Government did the right thing in legislating against zero hour contacts and unfair demands on working people to be available without compensation for work that might never be offered. But this new law relies on working people being able to negotiate decent conditions. They can’t if they are vulnerable to being sacked at an employer’s whim in their first 90 days. To be consistent the Government must learn from its mistake and outlaw that too.
"Working people need a fair law, a law which ensures they are respected and valued in the workplace. Removing 90 day fire at will periods from law would show that the Government is committed to a fair law, a modern law, a better law," Sam Huggard said.
ENDS
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Te Kauae Kaimahi
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi brings together over 350,000 New Zealand union members in 40 affiliated unions. We are the united voice for working people and their families in New Zealand.
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