Wilkinson Kate: Employment Relations Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
Wilkinson Kate: Employment Relations Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
[Volume:668;Page:15276] 
Hon KATE WILKINSON (Minister of Labour) 
: 
 I move  
That the Employment Relations Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a second time 
. I thank the members of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee and its chair David Bennett for dealing with this bill so swiftly and efficiently. The select committee reported back to the House on 2 November and recommended that the bill proceed with some amendments. I agree with the amendments proposed by the select committee. 
The intent of this bill is simple. This Government is firmly focused on providing greater choice and creating more opportunities for New Zealanders. We want Kiwi workers to succeed. We want them to back themselves and we trust them to make the decisions that best suit their families. We want our businesses to have confidence to take on new staff and we want our employment framework to provide greater certainty while being flexible enough to accommodate the 24/7 nature of the labour market. 
The employment reforms contained in this bill will assist New Zealand and New Zealanders. We know that the 90-day trial works. Kiwi businesses want to take on new employees and they want to grow and invest in this country. In the past too many have been put off by prescriptive personal grievance laws and the fear that if they make one bad hiring decision their business will suffer. The introduction of the trial period last year has made a huge difference to small businesses and to workers looking for someone to give them a chance in a new job. 
This is not a new idea. Countries all over the world have similar legislation in place; more often than not it is mandatory and the trial period is much longer than 90 days. It works well and that is why this bill proposes that it be extended to all employers. 
I have heard plenty of ideological opposition to this bill and I am not concerned about that. What I am concerned about is ensuring that people who want to work are given every opportunity to get a job. All they want is a chance and we know that employers want to offer that chance. We are giving them the confidence they need in order to do so. 
This bill also addresses concerns with the existing provisions for unions to access workplaces. It will provide clarity to employers and employees on communications while collective bargaining is under way and it will improve the operation of the institutions set up to help resolve employment relationship problems including the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court. It makes changes to the personal grievance system to give greater confidence to employers and employees that they will be given a fair go. Finally the bill will strengthen the ability of labour inspectors to improve compliance with employment legislation and ensure that the majority of employers who comply with this legislation are not disadvantaged by doing so. 
The select committee has given thorough consideration to the issues raised by submitters and has recommended some practical amendments to the bill. These amendments have been accepted. 
The Employment Relations Amendment Bill (No 2) progresses our election promise to make changes to union access provisions. The bill sets out that union access to workplaces is conditional on the consent of the employer which may not be unreasonably withheld. It also sets out a minimum process for obtaining this consent. The committee has recommended clarifying the time frame within which an employer must respond to a union representative’s request to enter a workplace. This change makes it clear that an employer must respond to a request as soon as practicable but no later than the working day after the request is received. If employers withhold their consent they must provide the reason for declining this request no later than the working day after they gave the union their decision. This provides a maximum time frame of 2 working days for considering a request and providing written reasons. This change provides clarity to both unions and employers about what their rights and obligations are when dealing with a request for a union representative to enter a workplace. 
The committee has recommended changes to the bill around early mediation services. I understand that a number of submitters were concerned that the bill would mean that people would not have access to representatives during mediation. This was certainly not the intent of the original bill. The change is intended to highlight that one of the options available to parties to resolve an employment relationship problem is the use of mediation services without having representatives present. This recognises that in some instances a problem may more easily be resolved by the parties themselves with the assistance of a mediator. It also provides flexibility as parties will continue to be able to access mediation with a legal representative if they believe that this is the best way to resolve their problem. 
The committee has also recommended a small number of changes that will clarify the intent of the bill and ensure that employees and employers are clear about what the changes mean. This includes removing doubt about the status of an unsigned employment agreement and providing that employees are able to get a copy of the employment agreement held by their employer. The changes mean that the Employment Relations Authority cannot issue freezing or search orders and that the authority should consider whether mediation is appropriate when a labour inspector brings an issue to the authority relating to minimum entitlements. The committee also recommended that one of the new tools given to labour inspectors improvement notices cannot be issued over the Christmas break. 
These are all sensible recommendations and I thank the committee for the thorough consideration it gave to the bill. I also thank the hundreds of submitters who took the time to make a submission on this bill. 
This bill improves the overall efficiency of the employment relations legislation. It provides for greater certainty and flexibility and it improves the operation of the Employment Relations Authority ensuring clarity for employers employees and unions in their dealings with each other. It will also discourage poor employment practices and increase employment opportunities. These moderate changes will improve confidence reduce costs and promote business growth whilst still ensuring fairness to both employees and employers. I commend this bill to the House.