Latest news with #FairPayAgreements
Scoop
13 hours 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."
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Business Standard
12-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
UK to end overseas care worker recruitment after visa fraud probe in India
The UK government is preparing to stop recruitment of overseas care workers as part of its broader effort to reduce net migration, just two months after a BBC investigation uncovered large-scale visa fraud linked to Kerala, India. According to UK Home Office figures, nearly 1,40,000 health and care visas were issued in 2023 to meet staffing shortages in Britain's care sector. Of these, 39,000 were granted to Indian nationals. 'Care workers from overseas have made a huge contribution to social care in the UK, but too many have been subject to shameful levels of abuse and exploitation,' the government said in a press release on May 12, 2025. 'Workers seeking to support the UK's care sector arrived to find themselves saddled with debt, treated unfairly, or in extreme cases discover the jobs they were promised did not exist.' 470 sponsors suspended since 2022 The Home Office has suspended over 470 care providers from sponsoring foreign staff since 2022, citing irregularities and abuse of the system. Authorities say around 40,000 overseas workers have been displaced due to the crackdown, though most remain in the country and are now eligible to rejoin the workforce through verified employers. According to the government, those who are already in the UK on valid sponsorships will still be allowed to extend their stay, switch employers, or apply for settlement—provided they remain compliant with immigration laws. A long-term shift is also underway to reduce reliance on foreign workers by training more UK residents for roles in adult social care. 'This government is committed to tackling these issues and has committed to establishing Fair Pay Agreements,' the statement said. These agreements will enable representatives from across the sector to negotiate better employment terms. The measures build on an earlier initiative announced in January to expand the Care Workforce Pathway, which is intended to help professionalise the sector. Baroness Louise Casey has also been appointed to lead an independent commission on adult social care, with a focus on building long-term consensus across party lines. Kerala fraud exposed by BBC probe The clampdown follows revelations of large-scale visa scams affecting Indian workers. In March, a BBC report found that many aspiring care workers in Kerala had fallen prey to fake recruitment agents after the UK added care roles to its shortage occupation list during the pandemic. This made it easier for care homes in Britain to sponsor foreign staff, triggering a rush of applications. In Ernakulam district, police said they now receive daily complaints from individuals who were promised jobs abroad but ended up defrauded. 'This is not just about one or two isolated cases. There's a pattern here,' a senior police officer told the BBC. 'Fraudsters are swindling lakhs of rupees from unsuspecting people by falsely promising them jobs in countries such as Europe, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand.' Why Kerala was targeted Ketan Mukhija, senior partner at Burgeon Law, told Business Standard that agents deliberately targeted Kerala due to its high migration rates. 'Fraudsters target individuals from Kerala primarily due to their strong aspirations for better employment opportunities abroad,' said Mukhija. 'Many migrants are driven by economic necessity and the desire to support their families, making them more susceptible to scams that promise high-paying jobs.' He added that many victims struggle to take legal action because of the costs involved. 'Lawyers are expensive, and these workers are already in deep debt.' Local migrant rights organisation Thittala estimates that between 1,000 and 2,000 Keralites affected by visa fraud or exploitation remain in the UK. Many more are stranded in India after spending lakhs on fraudulent agents. In Kothamangalam, a small town in Ernakulam district, BBC reporters met around 30 individuals who said they had collectively lost crores of rupees attempting to get care visas to the UK. Key points * 1,40,000 care visas issued in 2023; 39,000 went to Indians * Over 470 UK care providers have lost their sponsor licences * Around 40,000 overseas care workers were displaced * Visa fraud complaints surge in Kerala, India * Victims often don't pursue legal action due to cost * UK to expand training and move away from dependence on overseas staff
Scoop
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Labour Backs Workers While Govt Cuts Jobs And Protections
Press Release – New Zealand Labour Party Labour believes everyone deserves decent, secure work that allows them to make positive choices in their own lives, Jan Tinetti said. This May Day Labour is standing with workers to defend decent jobs and fair pay. 'Many Kiwis are struggling to find work or have lost their jobs because of this Government's disastrous choices,' Labour workplace relations and safety spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. 'Under National, unemployment is up to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work. Construction workers are leaving the country, manufacturing jobs are being cut, and more Kiwis are worried about finding or keeping a job. 'They're also making life harder for those still in work by scrapping Fair Pay Agreements, docking pay for strike action, and halting progress on pay transparency and equity. 'That makes it harder for workers to negotiate fair wages and keep their jobs. People are left with less job security, fewer rights, and pay that doesn't keep up with the cost of living. 'Labour believes everyone deserves decent, secure work that allows them to make positive choices in their own lives,' Jan Tinetti said. Jan Tinetti marked May Day at a workers' hui at Hopukiore (Mount Drury) Reserve in Mt Maunganui, one of several held nationwide to push back against the Government's anti-worker agenda. Labour Leader Chris Hipkins also spoke at a May Day event in New Plymouth with union leaders and workers. Other Labour MPs are marking the day at events around the country.
Scoop
01-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Labour Backs Workers While Govt Cuts Jobs And Protections
This May Day Labour is standing with workers to defend decent jobs and fair pay. 'Many Kiwis are struggling to find work or have lost their jobs because of this Government's disastrous choices,' Labour workplace relations and safety spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. 'Under National, unemployment is up to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work. Construction workers are leaving the country, manufacturing jobs are being cut, and more Kiwis are worried about finding or keeping a job. 'They're also making life harder for those still in work by scrapping Fair Pay Agreements, docking pay for strike action, and halting progress on pay transparency and equity. 'That makes it harder for workers to negotiate fair wages and keep their jobs. People are left with less job security, fewer rights, and pay that doesn't keep up with the cost of living. 'Labour believes everyone deserves decent, secure work that allows them to make positive choices in their own lives,' Jan Tinetti said. Jan Tinetti marked May Day at a workers' hui at Hopukiore (Mount Drury) Reserve in Mt Maunganui, one of several held nationwide to push back against the Government's anti-worker agenda. Labour Leader Chris Hipkins also spoke at a May Day event in New Plymouth with union leaders and workers. Other Labour MPs are marking the day at events around the country.
The Spinoff
23-04-2025
- Business
- The Spinoff
A stocktake of all the policies rolling back workers' rights in New Zealand
From real-terms minimum wage cuts to watering down health and safety, the government is subtly chipping away at pay, conditions and many of the other things that make work life-giving, writes Max Rashbrooke. Frogs, it turns out, do notice when they're being boiled. For years the favourite metaphor for people's insensibility to slow change has been the amphibian that, as the temperature increases imperceptibly, fails to clock that it's being cooked. Recent research, however, has shown that frogs do in fact jump out of an increasingly hot pot. So a new metaphor will be needed for what this government is doing to workers' rights, as it deploys a strategy that is unmistakably based on incremental attacks. Eschewing a full-blown confrontation with labour, the government is subtly chipping away at pay, conditions and many of the other things that make work life-giving. And because no one policy in isolation is world-changing, few people have understood the full extent of the rollback. Here, then, is the long list of the coalition's anti-worker policies, whether already implemented or in the works. Implementing real-terms minimum wage cuts Last year, the minimum wage went up 2% when inflation was 4%. This year, it increased 1.5% when inflation was 2.5%. Minimum-wage workers' pay packets, in short, buy significantly less than they did in 2023, something economists call a real-terms (that is, inflation-adjusted) pay cut. The Council of Trade Unions calculates that a full-time minimum wage worker is cumulatively $2,438 worse off (again, in real terms). Finance minister Nicola Willis wants to remove the requirement that government contractors have to pay the living wage. This is likely to mean that, over time, parliament's cleaners, caterers and security guards drop from the living wage ($28.95 an hour) to the minimum wage ($23.50), a pay cut of nearly one-fifth. Repealing Fair Pay Agreements One of the government's first moves was to repeal the Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022, which would have established industry minimum standards across low-paid industries. This would particularly have helped workers just above the minimum wage, who don't directly benefit from its increases and who have seen pitifully small salary rises in recent decades. Extending 90-day trials Under Labour, only small employers could impose 90-day trials, which allow them to dismiss an employee for no reason within their first three months of work. The government has allowed employers of all sizes to impose the trials, despite detailed research showing they do not increase hiring, even though they do cause terrible instability for new staff. Removing union protections for new workers The government wants to remove the rule that for the first month in a new job, an employee's pay and conditions must be as good as those in their workplace's collective agreement (where one exists). This rule gives new staff time to settle, a taste of the terms and conditions negotiated by the union, and protection against being pushed into an inferior individual agreement on day one. Removing this protection will also make it easier to impose 90-day trials on new staff (as above). Reducing workers' redress Even when employees win personal grievance cases, they will no longer be able to get reinstated, or be compensated for hurt and humiliation, if they have 'contributed to the issue' in any way – no matter how minor. This, unionists argue, will encourage employers to 'go on fishing expeditions, trawling for any tiny errors a worker has made in their job or their application for justice'. Enabling questionable payouts A select committee is considering an Act Party member's bill that would let employers offer employees cash in return for the latter agreeing that their employment is terminated. The offers could be made even when there is no evidence of an employment relationship problem, but where – in the bill's vague stipulation – 'the demands of the business mean that it is imperative to dismiss the employee'. The offers would be 'off the record', meaning that if bullying behaviour occurred during negotiations, the employee could not cite it in a future personal grievance. Staff often feel vulnerable, moreover, and experience fear and stigma about being fired. In practice, then, employers would feel emboldened to 'giv[e] the employee an ultimatum – accept what is being offered or be fired', says employment lawyer Susan Hornsby-Geluk. The bill 'would create an unbridled ability for an employer to present an employee with a fait accompli, under the cloak of 'legal privilege'', she argues. 'This is likely to result in unjust outcomes for the most vulnerable.' Limiting unjustified dismissal claims The government plans to prevent employees earning over $180,000 from raising an unjustified dismissal claim. Cry me a river, some might say – but why should, for instance, a senior manager on $181,000 not be able to take a claim if they have been sacked for no reason? There are also many reasons to think the change will be 'gamed'. Limiting contractors' rights The government plans to prevent employees incorrectly classified as contractors from contesting that status in court. New Zealand courts have repeatedly found in favour of four Uber drivers who argue that, whatever their written agreement says, they are effectively employed by the ridesharing firm and should have all the protections of employees. The government wants to remove these workers' ability to pursue their rights in court, arguing that if they have signed an agreement saying they are contractors, that's all that matters. This flies in the face of standard New Zealand legal practice, which rightly allows the courts to effectively set aside written agreements if the actual working relationship is otherwise (and thus protect employees from the consequences of being bullied into signing something inaccurate). Cutting public sector jobs While the final scale of the government's public-sector job cuts is not yet known, it is clearly in the thousands. Staff could have been redeployed to new priorities, or asked to carefully find efficiencies. Instead a hasty and blunt process has seen thousands of often highly skilled workers made redundant. Disestablishing the pay equity taskforce The government has disestablished the six-person pay equity taskforce, arguing – in essence – that public bodies have got so good at settling pay equity claims that they no longer need centralised support. This argument got short shrift from people like Nurses Organisation chief executive Paul Goulter, who said the move represented 'a huge loss' of knowledge and skills that were 'of huge benefit to both employers and the unions representing their employees in sorting pay equity issues'. Watering down health and safety The health and safety minister, Brooke van Velden, has announced that small businesses won't have to manage things like psychosocial or ergonomic risk. But mental health and musculoskeletal disorders are the two main causes of workplace harm, and smaller firms have higher rates of injuries than larger ones. Meanwhile van Velden has talked vaguely of a 'first principles' review of the 2015 Health and Safety at Work Act, despite everyone from Business New Zealand on down pointing out that this would be a bad idea. Implementing pay reductions for partial strikes The government has introduced a bill that would allow employers to reduce workers' pay by at least 10% when they carry out 'partial' strikes, such as refusing to perform all their duties. Hornsby-Geluk argues that this 'does not seem unreasonable', but unionists believe that, given most employees have very limited ability to win better terms and conditions, partial strikes are a valid form of action and should not be penalised.
