Parmar Parmjeet: Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParmar Parmjeet: Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 12 August 2015. Volume:707;Page:5750. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr PARMJEET PARMAR (National): Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker for the opportunity to speak on the Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill in the name of the Hon David Parker in its first reading. I acknowledge the effort of the member to bring this bill before the House. I also note as mentioned by previous speakers that this is a reproduction of a previous Labour member’s bill.I oppose this bill because I believe that the entitlement to the minimum wage is only for employees. Contractors are like businesses. They do their job in their own time. They decide the amount of payment they should receive for delivering their services. And not just that; they also decide the time frame in which they will deliver their services. They work their own hours and they can even have people assisting them to finish their contract. They enjoy huge flexibility. They could be working for one business or entity or they could have multiple contracts at the same time whereas employees are required to have a much higher level of commitment in terms of the number of hours they work the number of days they work and the number of days off they can have.To me this bill is saying that all business people should be entitled to the minimum wage which to me sounds like we are underestimating our innovative people who take the risk and start up their own businesses. People become contractors because they believe in their ability and they believe that there is demand for the kind of service that they want to provide.Contractors set their own terms and conditions when they go to work on a contract basis. Once that contract is finished there is no ongoing expectation from them. If this contractor business is run by just one person it is easy to establish. Another thing to keep in mind is that there is no one supervising the number of hours that contractors put into the work they have taken up. So it is totally up to them. They have to come up with the number of hours. They do their own calculations put their margins on and then decide the payment and also the time frame in which they will deliver those services.Contractors enjoy greater independence and also there is a greater perceived level of income security when compared with traditional employment. They work the hours that suit them. Employees have a fixed number of days they can have off every year. If they take more days off then they have to go without pay. But for contractors if they take more days off than they originally estimated there is no reduction in pay. On the other hand as the Hon Maurice Williamson mentioned there is no holiday pay. If we put contractors on the minimum wage and compare that with casual employees the casual employees get holiday pay; contractors will not get holiday pay. If we take into consideration ACC levies then contractors on the minimum wage are going to be worse off when compared with casual employees.Contractors are not bound by the timings or the rules of the workplace to which they are providing their services. They are like their own businesses. As I said contractors can even hire people to assist them. But employees cannot do that. If traditional employees try to hire someone to assist them then there is the risk that they will lose their job—and that means they are not capable.Contractors can also decide the flow of income. Contractors can decide to have 50 percent 70 percent or 80 percent of an amount paid at the start as soon as the contract is signed and then the remaining payments will be made in instalments as the work progresses. They can control the flow of income whereas employees cannot control the flow of income. Contractors are contractors because they like to work in a non-employee capacity. They do not want to work as employees. They believe in their services. They know they can do better.Carmel Sepuloni: Contractors are contractors—wow. Far out.Dr PARMJEET PARMAR: Yes people become contractors because there are financial and non-financial benefits. Those people who are contractors are not there just for financial gain; they are there for the non-financial benefits as well which they enjoy and which I have already spoken about. I do not see this bill achieving anything for anyone. Actually it is going to make the financial conditions of contractors worse. I oppose this bill. Thank you.