Parliament’s Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee has allowed only a very short timeframe for people to make submissions on the
Employment Relations Amendment Bill (No 2)
.
Submissions close on 13 September
.
If it is passed in its current form, this Bill will:
-
extend the fire at will provisions under which employees can be dismissed without reason the first 90 days of their employment to all businesses (
clause 12
)
-
restrict the ability of employees to talk to their union representatives about what is going on in their workplaces (clauses
5
&
6
)
-
expand the circumstances in which the dismissal of an employee can be justified, and allow employers to use unfair processes in dismissing employees (
clause 14
)
-
allow employers to attempt to undermine collective bargaining by bypassing employees’ elected representatives (
clause 9
)
-
remove the requirement that a sacked employee getting his or her job back should be the first priority if he or she is found to have been unfairly dismissed (
clause 15
)
I hope you can find the time to submit in opposition to these proposals in the Bill. The NZ Council of Trade Unions has provided a
handy submission framework
for making submissions via them on-line. Please amend it to stress the points you think are most important, and add more detail and things from your personal experiences and knowledge if you have the time.
And remember the deadline –
Monday 13 September, 2010
.