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:15504] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 I have to admit to being absolutely dismayed on examining schedule 2 and the amendment to the Employment Relations Act in relation to employment relations education leave. I was on the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee and I have to admit that the provision went past me. 
Jo Goodhew 
: Oh! 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Jo Goodhew should listen because it is a very very important provision for workers when it comes to having an active and engaged workforce whose members understand their rights— 
Hon Dr Wayne Mapp 
: Unlike the current member who is neither active nor engaged. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: What is that noise over there? There is a bit of a noise going on over there. It would be good if it just stopped. 
This provision comes on top of the sneaky cuts that this Government made to employment relations education in last year’s Budget. It cut the contestable fund by 56 percent. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Well this is consistent with that. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: I know that Wayne Mapp gets all excited when we start talking about workers’ rights but that fund also applies to employers. They were just as upset about that as unions workers’ representatives and the Council of Trade Unions were. Employers also use that fund to educate their managers and businesses about productive employment relationships. 
Let us face it one of the problems we have in this country and it has been well researched and well documented is that we have a low quality of management. That is one of the issues that are standing in the way of increasing our productivity. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: If they went to some of those union education leave courses the quality of their management could well improve. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Well that is true. They might learn something. But now it will be even more difficult of course. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: The managers wouldn’t want to go on the pay that the workers get for it. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: No that is true and what will happen is that unions will have to top up that pay. It will become yet another compliance cost on unions which are trying to do the right thing. They are trying to make sure that they are able to have engaged informed and well-educated workers so that they do not have to knock on the door of employers all the time to talk to them about what is going on in their workplaces. The whole idea about employment relations education leave is that many issues can be solved in the workplace by workplace representatives or delegates. 
I am disappointed about that but I also refer to the transitional provision in clause 19 in Part 2 which refers to section 28A of the Holidays Act. I think it is an illustration of the mess that this whole legislation has got us into. We heard from members opposite in the earlier debate about how workers will just love the ability to cash up their annual leave and that they cannot wait to do so. We heard that they are so grateful to the Government. Of course this bill will not come into force until next year. I come to the commencement date because there is some confusion over that as well. The bill will not come into force until next year. All sorts of people have been listening to the National Government’s rhetoric. They are thinking that at least they can get a pay increase by cashing up their annual leave this year. They have not had any other sort of pay increase because this Government has no plan to build the economy— 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Stop your moaning and stand up straight. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Yes sergeant-major I say to Tau Henare. 
There is no plan to build the economy to increase wages or to bridge the gap with Australia—we all know that. 
In schedule 1 “Consequential amendments to principal Act” what we have again is an illustration of the confusion of this bill. Although we have not talked a lot about average daily pay versus relevant daily pay because overall we do not have major difficulties with the change what we do have in this bill is a choice for employers between one system and the other. How confusing is that? We have heard again and again how difficult the Holidays Act is to interpret and how complicated relevant daily pay is to calculate and so on but now we have a choice. Oh my goodness all of those sections under schedule 1 will be amended and I think we are getting into a right old mess. 
The Holidays Act is criticised again and again and this bill is supposed to be the opportunity for the Government to show everybody in the country that it can do a better job than the previous Labour Government but I think it has mucked it up.