20 March, 2017

MEDIA RELEASE

E tū urges change to tax on redundancy pay

E tū says if the government wants to help the Cadbury workers who have lost their jobs, they should abolish tax on redundancy pay.

The Prime Minister, Bill English has said he is hoping for “as good an outcome” as workers can get, “…maybe in the form of a redundancy payment…”.

Neville Donaldson, E tū National Industry Strategy Director (Food) says Cadbury workers have a good redundancy package but up to 33% on their redundancy pay will be taken by the government as tax.

However, Neville says tax on redundancy pay should go.

“If the government really wants to help workers at the point they are at their most vulnerable, then it should abolish tax on these payments.

“This could be the last substantial payment of any kind some of these workers get, and despite the optimism of Mr English about today’s job market, in fact good quality jobs are extremely hard to find.

“Most jobs out there are casual, part-time and poorly paid.”

Neville says tax on redundancy pay has always been a sore point for unions, because it severely reduces the value of any pay out when workers are most in need.

ENDS

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