Employment Law Changes in 2019 – what you need to know

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4:36 PM, 13 March 2019

There are new and pending changes to employment law which you need to know about, due to the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018, the Domestic Violence – Victims’ Protection Act 2018, and the Minimum Wage Order 2019.

The main changes that potentially affect booksellers include:

  • rise in minimum wage;
  • reinstatement of set meal and rest breaks;
  • limiting of 90-day trials to businesses with fewer than 20 employees;
  • leave entitlements and protections for victims of domestic violence; and
  • strengthened collective bargaining and union rights.

As always, this is only a broad overview and you should seek advice if you are unsure about how any of these changes may affect you and your staff.

Minimum wage
From 1 April 2019, the adult minimum wage will increase $1.20 per hour to $17.70 an hour. The starting-out and training minimum wage rates will increase from $13.20 to $14.16 per hour; remaining at 80% of the adult minimum wage. For any of your employees not currently earning at least $17.70 an hour, this pay increase is a variation to their employment contracts. You will need to provide them with a variation in writing (a simple letter will suffice) and make the relevant changes to their employment agreements on file.

For more senior and experienced employees already earning more than the minimum wage, this rise will decrease the pay gap for these staff. You may wish to consider what effect this will have on those employees. Bear in mind that there are other benefits you may be able to offer them (such as discounts and extra benefits) that will not add to your wage bill.

Rest and meal breaks

Rest and meal break rules will be tightened from 6 May 2019. There is a return to more regulation about the timing, frequency and duration of breaks.  Employers and employees will need to agree when breaks are to be taken. This agreement could be in the employment contract, in a roster or some other system. If there is no agreement, the law will require the breaks to be in the middle of the work period, so long as it’s reasonable and practicable to do so. Employers must pay for minimum rest breaks but don’t have to pay for minimum meal breaks. An employee must be given their entitled breaks; these cannot be contracted out of for extra pay or time in lieu.

Work duration

Entitled breaks

0 – 2 hours

No entitlement

2 – 4 hours

1 x paid 10 minute rest break

4 – 6 hours

1 x paid 10 minute rest break

1 x unpaid 30 minute meal break

6 – 8 hours

2 x paid 10 minute rest breaks

1 x unpaid 30 minute meal break

8+ hours

The entitlement reverts as though the employee had commenced a new shift.

90 day trial periods

From 6 May 2019, 90-day trial periods will be restricted to businesses with fewer than 20 employees. If you want to use a 90 day trial period for a new employee, it remains crucial that, before starting work for you, the employee has signed an employment agreement containing such a clause.

A larger business with 20 or more employees will no longer be able to use a 90 day trial period.  However, you may continue to use probationary periods to assess an employee’s skills against the role’s responsibilities. A probationary period lays out a process in the employment contract for managing performance issues and ending employment if the issues aren’t resolved.

The safest precaution against hiring the wrong employee is always a robust recruitment process.

Victims of domestic violence

From 1 April 2019, victims of domestic violence will have new legal protections in the work place. 

A person affected by domestic violence will have the right to request a short-term (up to two months) variation of their working arrangements. This could include variation to days and hours of work, place of work, and duties.  Such a request can only be refused by an employer on certain limited grounds. If you receive a request in writing, you must respond to it within ten working days.  If you wish to request proof of the issue (such as a medical certificate, court order or police report), you must ask for this within three working days of receiving the request.

An employee who has been working for you for more than six months will also be entitled to ten paid days leave to deal with effects of domestic violence on themselves or a child. The employer has the right to ask for proof of the issue. This leave is in addition to all other leave, including sickness and bereavement leave. This leave cannot, however, be carried over nor paid out at the end of a contract. 

It will also now be unlawful for an employer to treat an employee adversely due to their being affected by domestic violence. This will give rise to new grounds for a personal grievance claim and/or a claim to the Human Rights Commission.

Hopefully the likelihood of your employees having to use these provisions is low but it will be important for employers to exercise heightened sensitivity and care for privacy in these situations.  You may wish to come up with a system for how employees can approach you with such concerns.  If you are in any doubt about how to respond to an employee, please seek appropriate advice without delay.

Unions and collective bargaining

Many of the changes relating to unions and collective bargaining will not be relevant to booksellers.  However, we have summarised them here on the off-chance that you are affected. 

Union representatives can now enter workplaces without consent, provided the employees are covered under, or bargaining towards, a collective agreement. They can only enter a workplace for certain purposes, must be respectful of normal operating hours, and follow health, safety and security procedures. Where no collective agreement or bargaining exists, union representatives still need to seek consent before entering workplaces. Union representatives can also enter a workplace to assist a non-union employee with matters relating to health and safety if that employee has requested their assistance.

Employers can no longer make pay deductions for partial strikes (such as the wearing of t-shirts) as part of low-level industrial action by employees.

Businesses must now enter into bargaining for multi-employer collective agreements, if asked to join by a union. There are limited grounds for refusal.

Employees will have extended protections against discrimination on the basis of their union membership status. From now, an employer’s behaviour can be seen as discriminatory if it occurs within 18 months of employees undertaking union activities.

The 30-day rule will come back from 6 May 2019. This means that for the first 30 days, new employees must be employed under terms consistent with the collective agreement. The employer and employee may however agree more favourable terms than the collective.

Employers will need to allow for reasonable paid time for union delegates to undertake their union activities, such as representing employees in collective bargaining. Employees will need to agree with their employer to do so or notify them in advance. An employer will only be able to deny the request if it will unreasonably disrupt the business or the performance of the employee’s duties.

Employers will need to pass on information about the role and function of unions to prospective employees. Unions must bear the costs if they want printed materials to be passed on.

by Tiffany Matsis 

The source of these notes is a Retail NZ - arranged webinar, attended by Tiffany on behalf of Booksellers NZ. 

 

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