Employment Relations Changes Effective 6 March
Whenever the legislation surrounding HR and Employment change it aways makes someone nervous - whether it's employees worrried about negative changes to their employment conditions or employers worried about increased compliance or negative impacts on their ability to run a profitable business.
The great news is the good folks at Chapman Tripp summarised the key changes on their website (the full link is below).
Key Changes to the Employment Relations Act
- Increased flexibility for rest breaks and meal breaks, requiring employers to provide employees with a “reasonable opportunity” for rest and meal times.
- Flexible working arrangements extended to all employees rather than only those with caring responsibilities.
- Employers able to opt out of bargaining for a multi-employer collective agreement.
- Employers able to initiate bargaining at the same time as unions.
- “30 day rule” will be repealed, allowing more scope for employers to negotiate individual terms and conditions at the outset. Employers must still advise employees of the existence of the collective agreement and provide contact details for the union.
- Most strikes and lockouts to require advance written notice.
- Employers able to make partial pay deductions where employees take partial strike action (say work to rule).
- Good faith provisions amended to enable an employer to withhold confidential information where disclosing it will result in the unwarranted disclosure of a non-affected person’s affairs.
- Continuity of employment provisions under Part 6A expressly allow employers to negotiate the apportionment of service related entitlements.
- Employment Relations Authority required to give an oral decision or indication at the end of an investigation meeting and written determinations within 3 months.
Please note: "We are not providing legal advice here and if you have any specific questions of interpretation and how it relates to your business we recommend talking to your employment law specialist."