3. Question No. 3—Workplace Relations and SafetyDr PARMJEET PARMAR (ACT) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and SafetyQuestion No. 3—Workplace Relations and Safety3. Dr PARMJEET PARMAR (ACT) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: What recent announcements has she made in her portfolio?Hon BROOKE VAN VELDEN (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): I recently announced my priorities which are intended to restore business confidence and certainty. That is the way businesses are able to create more and better jobs which is better for Kiwi workers. My priorities are related to the Holidays Act contractors' arrangements health and safety law and reform and performance metrics for public services. Over the last six years employers would be forgiven for feeling like they have been pitted against workers but I believe that the frustrations both employers and workers are facing are connected. Labour market regulations are becoming increasingly complex making it harder for employers and workers to reach the solutions that work for both of them. Flexible labour markets are the best environment for businesses to grow. When businesses thrive the economy thrives. Dr Parmjeet Parmar: What is she planning to do to improve certainty in contracting relationships?Hon BROOKE VAN VELDEN: An important change I intend on making comes from the ACT-National coalition agreement. It includes the commitment to better protect choice and freedom to contract for workers and businesses. I've asked my officials for advice on how to achieve certainty for contracting parties so that their intent when entering into a contract for services is upheld. Many New Zealand businesses use contractors in situations where engaging an employee to do the work would be inappropriate or not as effective. I understand that 90 percent of contractors report that they are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs and that they would prefer to continue being self-employed rather than to have a paid job working for someone else.Dr Parmjeet Parmar: Is the Minister planning to make changes to the Holidays Act?Hon BROOKE VAN VELDEN: I want to confirm that delivering improvements to the Holidays Act to simplify and clarify the law is one of my top priorities. I understand that change has been a long time coming. The previous Government's Holidays Act Taskforce began work in 2018 but were not able to deliver on changes by the end of their term in Government. I've heard from many a small business who spends a lot of time trying to comply with the Holidays Act rather than getting on with their core business. The first action that I'm going to take is to make sure that any changes to the Act are workable that they are a material improvement on the status quo. One of the reasons why it has taken so long to deliver change is that the previous Government's proposals were so complex that it was very difficult to get draft legislation. If the draft legislation is hard then it is going to be very difficult to implement—SPEAKER: Just an answer thank you.Camilla Belich: Will the Minister guarantee that no employee will have a reduction in entitlements due to her proposed Holidays Act changes?Hon BROOKE VAN VELDEN: I am intending on consulting widely about the Holidays Act changes and I look forward to the member being part of that consultation.Dr Parmjeet Parmar: What reforms to health and safety is she planning?Hon BROOKE VAN VELDEN: The Health and Safety at Work Act is now almost 10 years old. I think it is an appropriate time that we take a step back and assess whether the health and safety system is fit for purpose. Businesses want to keep people safe and healthy at work and workers want to keep themselves and their colleagues safe and healthy at work. But one of the things I hear consistently is that businesses and workers alike either struggle to understand the reason for some of the costly health and safety regulations or they are struggling to know what to do in order to comply. So we want to simplify and clarify the law for both workers and businesses. Before we embark on that reform I want to hear from workers I want to hear from businesses and I want to hear from people who know how to keep workers safe at work. So we will be starting public consultation.