Latest news with #EmploymentRelationsAmendmentBill
Scoop
2 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
The Employment Relations Amendment Bill: A State-Sanctioned Assault On The Working Class
The National-ACT-New Zealand First coalition government's Employment Relations Amendment Bill (ERAB), will see a sweeping series of legislative changes that reshape the legal terrain of labour in Aotearoa. These changes, billed by the government as necessary for 'labour market flexibility' and 'economic growth,' represent a radical rollback of worker protections. Cloaked in technocratic language and presented as pragmatic reform, the bill in fact amounts to a systemic attack on organised labour, unionism, and the basic rights of working people. ERAB does not signal the failure of the state to protect workers, it reveals the true nature of the state itself. The bill should be understood not as a policy misstep, but as a calculated act of class warfare by a government acting as the political arm of capital. What the Bill Contains At the heart of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill lies a multi-pronged effort to deregulate labour protections and entrench power in the hands of employers. There are four major pillars to this legislative shift: The Introduction of a 'Contractor Gateway Test' The Limitation of Personal Grievance Remedies The Repeal of the 30-Day Rule for New Employees The Restoration of Employer Powers to Deduct Wages During Partial Strikes Each of these measures contributes to the erosion of worker autonomy and legal protections, and together they mark a sharp rightward shift in employment law—one that prioritises capital accumulation over dignity, security, or fairness. Institutionalising Insecurity: The Contractor Gateway Test Perhaps the most structurally damaging reform is the introduction of a 'contractor gateway test.' This test is intended to establish a legal presumption that certain workers are not employees, but independent contractors—thereby removing them from the protections afforded under the Employment Relations Act. If a worker meets a checklist of conditions (such as having a written contract stating they are a contractor, having the theoretical ability to work for others, and not being penalised for declining work), they can be categorised as contractors regardless of the actual nature of the work. This change is designed to exploit the legal fiction of contractor 'freedom.' In practice, it will increase precarity for thousands of workers who are functionally dependent on a single employer. Gig economy workers, cleaners, hospitality staff, care workers, and migrant labourers will be among the hardest hit – those least able to negotiate or contest exploitative arrangements. By facilitating this mass misclassification, the state legitimises a race to the bottom. Sick leave, minimum wages, overtime, and holiday pay become luxuries rather than rights. Workers will be rendered atomised economic agents, responsible for their own exploitation. Making Workers the Problem: Personal Grievance Restrictions The bill also proposes restricting workers' ability to raise personal grievances, especially in cases of dismissal. Under ERAB, employers may avoid paying compensation if the dismissed worker is deemed to have contributed to their dismissal through 'serious misconduct.' In other words, the government is offering employers legal leeway to terminate employment while avoiding financial consequences. The bill also excludes workers earning more than $180,000 from being able to raise personal grievances, creating a two-tier system in which legal recourse is determined not by the justice of one's case, but by the size of one's paycheque. These provisions are punitive and ideological. They send a clear message: if a worker is sacked, it is probably their own fault. This is not an attempt to resolve disputes fairly – it is a mechanism of discipline. A demoralised, fearful workforce is a compliant one. Attacking Unionism: Repealing the 30-Day Rule Another key component of ERAB is the repeal of the 30-day rule. Previously, when a worker started a job in a workplace with a collective agreement, they would automatically receive the terms of that agreement for their first 30 days. This protected workers from being picked off and offered worse contracts before they had a chance to join a union or understand their rights. Its repeal will allow employers to immediately undercut collective agreements by offering inferior individual contracts. The aim is not to promote fairness—it is to weaken union density, divide workers, and remove the incentive for employers to negotiate with unions at all. It is a classic tactic of divide and rule. Recriminalising Solidarity: Deductions for Partial Strikes Finally, the bill reintroduces employers' ability to deduct pay for 'partial strike' actions—where workers might refuse specific duties while continuing to perform others. Partial strikes are a form of limited industrial action that allow workers to escalate disputes strategically and carefully. Punishing them with pay cuts is intended to suppress this tactic and reassert managerial authority. This reform is aimed squarely at reasserting capital's power to punish resistance. It also represents a symbolic victory for employers: a return to the draconian provisions of the Employment Contracts Act era. A Longer History of Repression While these reforms are severe, they are not novel. Rather, they follow a decades-long trajectory of neoliberal labour market restructuring in Aotearoa. The 1991 Employment Contracts Act, spearheaded by National's Ruth Richardson, abolished compulsory unionism and national awards, deregulating industrial relations and shifting power dramatically towards employers. This was complemented by the broader economic reforms of the Fourth Labour Government, which introduced market logic into almost every facet of public life, including education, health, and welfare. Since then, no government has meaningfully reversed this trend. The Clark government (1999–2008) offered some mild reversals, and the Sixth Labour Government (2017–2023) introduced the Fair Pay Agreements (since repealed). But the fundamental structure of employer dominance has remained untouched. In this light, ERAB is not a betrayal of some progressive consensus. It is a continuation of the neoliberal project with renewed aggression. Its goal is to further erode the legal terrain on which workers might mount a defence. The State as the Manager of Capital Anarcho-communists have long argued that the state does not function as a neutral arbiter in labour relations. It is the executive committee of the ruling class, managing the conditions under which capital can reproduce itself. It may, at times, offer workers concessions such as welfare payments, labour protections, or health and safety laws, but these are always tactical, not moral. They can be revoked as easily as they are granted, and they are most often granted in the wake of unrest or threat. ERAB illustrates this logic perfectly. Rather than responding to a crisis of productivity or economic necessity, it seeks to pre-emptively disarm the working class in anticipation of future struggle. Its goal is to ensure that capital can extract more surplus value with fewer obstacles. In this sense, the bill is not simply anti-worker—it is anti-democratic, in the truest sense. It aims to suppress the ability of people to determine the conditions of their own labour, and thus their own lives. Resistance: Beyond Legalism, Beyond the State Faced with these developments, many liberal commentators and union leaders have called for legal challenges, electoral change, and lobbying. But anarcho-communists recognise that such strategies are insufficient. The state has already shown its allegiances. No matter which party holds office, workers' rights will be contingent on the approval of capital and its political servants. Instead, we must build resistance from below. That means rejecting the logic of legalism and instead fostering the conditions for direct action and solidarity. This includes: -Rebuilding radical, rank-and-file led unions that are accountable to workers, not party officials. -Organising mutual aid networks to provide material support for striking or sacked workers. -Occupying and collectivising workplaces under threat, with or without legal recognition. Conclusion: No Authority but Ourselves The Employment Relations Amendment Bill is not a detour from democratic principles – it is a confirmation that parliamentary democracy in a capitalist state is a dead end for the working class. It consolidates employer power, undermines unionism, and exposes the state's role as an instrument of class domination. But in this dark moment, there is also clarity. The illusions of social partnership, of progressive government, of justice through legislation are burning away. What remains is the possibility of something else: the possibility of worker self-organisation, of mutual aid, of a society based not on hierarchy or profit, but on solidarity and shared need. We must turn away from begging for better laws and begin building our own power. The road ahead is not easy, but it is ours. And as always, it begins not in Parliament but on the shop floor, in the streets, and in the hearts of those who still believe that another world is possible.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Luxon's ACT Party Government Dragging NZ Workers Back In Time
Today's introduction of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill to Parliament shows that the ACT Party - a fringe libertarian party with the support of fewer than one in ten New Zealanders - is now the leading force in Christopher Luxon's "hands-off" Government and has been given a green light to drag Aotearoa backwards with a disastrous suite of anti-worker 'reforms'. "It's clear that Brooke van Velden and the ACT Party are now redefining the future of workers in New Zealand with the blessing of a negligent Prime Minister," said Dennis Maga, Workers First Union General Secretary. "These are the most significant anti-worker law changes that this country has seen in decades, and they will make life worse for every working person in the country to the benefit of exploitative employers." "This Bill 'amends' employment relations in our country in the same way that a large earthquake 'amends' a city." Mr Maga said proposed law changes intended to distinguish an 'employee' from a 'contractor' are "desperately pre-emptive" and aim to precede an appeal being heard next month by the Supreme Court of New Zealand on a 2022 Employment Court verdict that four Uber drivers were employees and not contractors. "This Government has no regard for evidence, no time for judicial process, and is in the pocket of multinational scam artists like Uber who prey on contractor misclassification to skirt around weak legislation," said Mr Maga. "Instead of strengthening our protection against exploitation, Brooke van Velden is laying out the red carpet for employers like Uber to come into New Zealand and take advantage of cheap labour with next to no rights and no ability to challenge employment status." Mr Maga said that a proposed change to remove the "30-day rule", which protects a new employee's rights by signing them up to a collective agreement automatically, was part of a deliberate effort to undermine unions and ensure "atomisation" in the workplace that would erode workers' collective strength and safety. "The ACT Party believes workers are simply cheap labour on a balance sheet, and we should be docile, productive and silent on the collective challenges we face at work like poor safety standards, exploitation and low pay," said Mr Maga. Mr Maga said that these law changes would break an "industrial peace" in Aotearoa that has been enjoyed for some time. "All options are on the table, and unions will be fighting back because we care about the future of our workplaces and we believe in self-determination and negotiation, not blind servitude to employers," said Mr Maga. "This one-term Government has been an absolute disaster already, but every week, they manage to surprise us by sinking even lower."
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Radical Employment Bill Threatens Every NZ Worker
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi is urging all political parties to vote against Brooke van Velden's new Employment Relations Amendment Bill, as it will severely undermine workers' rights. 'This new Bill will legislate many of the attacks on workers' rights signalled by Brooke van Velden, fundamentally undermining the rights of working people in New Zealand's employment relations system,' said NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff. 'Following instruction from Uber's corporate lobbyists, the Minister is wanting to prevent some of the most vulnerable and casualised workers who have been misclassified as contractors from being able to access their legal rights by taking cases to court. Government should not be blocking workers from court because corporates may not like the outcome. 'The personal grievance changes are also trying to tie the courts hands and prevent them from establishing justice for workers. They entrench power imbalances and leave workers facing unjustified dismissal with no statutory protection. 'These changes threaten every single worker in Aotearoa. The right to seek remedies for unjustifiable and unlawful dismissal is a basic employment right and should not be diluted. 'This Bill also legislates to remove the 30-day rule, which is another attempt undermine unions and protections that unions bring their members. Currently workers in a new role have the protection of any collective agreement in place for 30 days. Removing the rule will encourage employers to exploit workers when they are at their most vulnerable, and to lead a race to the bottom for wages and conditions. 'The Bill heightens worker vulnerability to unjustifiable dismissal, shields employers from the consequences of mistreating workers, and drives people into insecure work. This is in the context of government policy that has caused largescale unemployment. 'Parties across Parliament should vote down this radically unjust law and instead support working people and their families,' said Wagstaff.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
All Workers Will Now Be Able To Be Fired At Will - The Govt Has No Shame
All workers will be in the firing line for instant dismissal regardless of circumstances under a law change now before Parliament. Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brook van Velden has introduced the Employment Relations Amendment Bill which will make it harder for workers to bring personal grievance claims. "This is plainly and simply a fundamental erosion of workers' rights to secure employment - the Minister is effectively giving employers the green light to fire workers at will," said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi. "It will be virtually impossible for a worker to bring a successful personal grievance if unfairly sacked. This is a radical change for every workplace in New Zealand, again exposing the Government's priority to make life easier for employers, harder for workers. "If a worker is dismissed unjustifiably, the only remedy is through a personal grievance. There is no problem here the Government is trying to solve. The current remedies are already very limited with reinstatement only being ordered in 16 cases at the Employment Relations Authority in 2024 according to their Annual Report. "But now the Bill will make it easier for employers to find a way to undermine any personal grievance claim by establishing some conduct by the worker that contributed to a dismissal. "Under the Bill, an employer will be able to amplify any conduct by the workers - it won't be hard for some justification to be found to defend against the claim. Advertisement - scroll to continue reading "This is all about weakening any claim and discouraging a worker from bringing a claim in the first place. That will mean workers will find it much harder to be reinstated which is ultimately what most workers want or get compensation for hurt and humiliation. "The Minister trumpeted the changes as all about 'labour market flexibility'. We heard the same thing in 1991 with the Employment Contracts Act which the Government then promised would increase productivity. That didn't happen, it just stripped workers of rights and emboldened employers. "We are seeing the same playbook now with planned cuts to sick pay, pay equity, the 90-day fire at will law, weakening health and safety requirements for employers and the axing of Fair Pay Agreements. "That all amounts to less secure employment, lower wages and more dangerous workplaces. "The Government has no shame and workers across New Zealand will pay the price for that for years to come."
Scoop
4 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
New Bill To Boost Labour Market Flexibility
Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says amendments to the Employment Relations Act will improve labour market flexibility and help businesses to grow, innovate, and employ with confidence and certainty. 'Today I'm announcing the introduction of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill to Parliament, marking a key milestone in this Government's efforts to help New Zealand businesses employ or contract with confidence and create more and better opportunities for workers,' says Ms van Velden. The changes give effect to several ACT–National Coalition Agreement commitments, including to provide greater certainty for contracting parties. 'Workers and businesses should have more certainty about the type of work being done from the moment they agree to a contracting arrangement. 'The new gateway test introduced in this Bill will provide greater clarity for businesses and workers around the distinction between employment and contracting arrangements. This will provide greater certainty for all parties and will allow more innovative business models,' says Ms van Velden. The Bill will also make changes to simplify the personal grievances process including two significant changes. 'The amendment to personal grievances will reduce rewards for bad behaviour and reduce costs for businesses in the process. Under current law, if a personal grievance is established the Employment Relations Authority or Employment Court may award remedies including reinstatement into a role, and compensation for hurt and humiliation. The changes make clear an employee whose behaviour amounts to serious misconduct will be ineligible for remedies. 'This change will ensure that hardworking New Zealanders don't see bad behaviour rewarded,' says Ms van Velden. The Bill also introduces an income threshold of $180,000 above which a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal cannot be pursued. High-income employees often have a major impact on organisational performance, getting the right fit is crucial. This change will provide greater labour market flexibility, enabling businesses to ensure they have the best fit of skills and abilities for their organisation. It allows employers to give workers a go in high impact positions, without having to risk a costly and disruptive dismissal process if things don't work out, benefitting those seeking to move up the career ladder.' Another change will cut compliance at the beginning of employment. By removing the '30-day rule' employers and employees will now be free to negotiate mutually beneficial terms and conditions from the start of employment. 'I am committed to building business confidence, ensuring a strong economy that will lift wages, create opportunities, and help Kiwi workers get ahead,' says Ms van Velden. The public and interested groups will have a chance to submit on the Bill when it is at Select Committee.
