Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Rule Change Brings Relief to Seasonal Staff
21 April 2005
Rule Change Brings Relief to Seasonal Staff
Changes to stand-down rules for the unemployment benefit will bring a huge relief to thousands of seasonal workers, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.
From May 1, benefit applicants will be able to choose an income assessment period of 26 or 52 weeks for the assessment of the initial stand-down. Currently they have to have it assessed only over the last six months of work.
“This has meant that that some seasonal workers have faced a stand-down of two or three months because they had a high income for a short time,” Carol Beaumont said. “The rules did not recognise that this was their income for the entire year.”
Unions pressed for the change and it would be welcomed by seasonal workers, she said.
“Industries need these valuable workers and this rule change will help to ensure a skilled and reliable workforce is available,” Carol Beaumont 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.
Gordon Campbell: On unemployment, Winston Peters’ low boiling point and music criticism
Government: Streamlining Building Consent Changes
Koi Tu - The Centre for Informed Futures: If Not Journalists, Then Who?
FIRST Union: May Day, The Biggest Threat To NZ Workers In 2024 Is Our Government
Green Party: New Unemployment Figures Paint Bleak Picture 
Labour Party: National Should Heed Tribunal Warning And Scrap Coalition Commitment With ACT
Government: Saves Access To Medicines
