Fenton Darien: Holidays Amendment Bill — Second Reading In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Fenton Darien: Holidays Amendment Bill — Second Reading In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Volume:668;Page:15510] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 I am pleased to take a call on the—[ 
Interruption 
] What? 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: It’s all right. I was just criticising my colleague for taking only one call. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: All right. I was beginning to speak on clauses 1 2 and 3 “Title” “Commencement” and “Principal Act amended”. I want to talk about clause 3 “Principal Act amended”: “This Act amends the Holidays Act 2003.”. My colleague Trevor Mallard was trying to remember earlier the date of the last Holidays Act. It was 2003. I could not remember it either actually. But I did know that it was during the term of a Labour Government and that the last time we amended the Holidays Act we made some significant improvements. We made significant improvements to the holidays of New Zealander workers. It was great because we were on the path towards catching up with Australia in terms of its annual leave. We approved things like improvements to sick leave and bereavement leave. We gave workers time and a half for working on a statutory holiday which they had not had before plus a day in lieu. I was not in the House at that time but I really supported what the Labour Government did. It made a huge difference to working people throughout New Zealand. If they had been asked about it at the time they would have said it was one of the most significant amendments to any Act that the Labour Government made. 
Here we are in 2010 amending the Holidays Act once again but unfortunately we are going backwards. We are now in reverse drive and going back and undoing all the good work that Labour did. The National Government is picking at it bit by bit. I think there will be more change as time goes on. It is a real missed opportunity because while we are debating this in the Chamber tonight our friends and fellow workers and employers in Australia have been talking about holidays once again. They have been talking about what happens next year. There is a great opportunity for this Government to do something right for a change. Next year we have the unique situation where Easter Monday and Anzac Day fall on the same day so New Zealand workers will miss out. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: It’s April 2011 just after this comes into force. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: That is right. It is just after the commencement date for this legislation. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: It might be on the 25th. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: That is true. The Minister of Labour said that Anzac Day should be revered. Well we agree with that. It does not mean that workers should not get another day off to compensate for the fact that they will miss out on one public holiday next year. That is the truth. Every state in Australia has brought in a provision giving workers an extra day off on pay next year to compensate. In the meantime we are making it harder for workers to have proper days off to recognise public holidays that they are currently entitled to. We are going backwards. This is a huge missed opportunity. 
There are other things that the Government could have done. If the Government really had to go down the path of doing the things it has done—for example requiring a medical certificate after 1 day’s sick leave—it could have introduced an amendment to make sure that the reimbursement was for actual costs. It could have ensured that the reimbursement was not just for the cost of the doctor but also for the cost of finding a babysitter or childminder getting into the car to go to the doctor and perhaps taking time off work. The Government could have done that but of course it did not. It was one of the sensible amendments that members on this side of the Chamber proposed. 
Another amendment that would have made this bill much fairer related to the whole issue of transferring public holidays. Labour members do not have a problem with the idea that people can transfer their holidays to a day that has more cultural meaning to them. Our concern is that it could be used to avoid paying time and a half on the actual day. This bill could have been amended to make it much stronger so that that could not happen. If a worker is required to work on an official public holiday—a recognised public holiday—the worker should be paid time and a half. 
Another missed opportunity was an amendment to make sure that if workers cash up their leave it is not a substitute for a pay increase.