Fenton Darien: Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Fenton Darien: Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 In speaking to the purpose clause of this Employment Relations (Flexible Working Hours) Amendment Bill I say there has been some incredible discussion here tonight particularly from the Opposition benches. It reminds me why it is really really important that we have parties in this House that understand the realities of the working lives of many New Zealanders. It is not all wonderful like the honourable Wayne Mapp would have us believe. 
As other people have said this legislation is very very light-handed stuff. It does not say that workers have a statutory right to demand flexible hours. It does not even say that they have the right to negotiate flexible hours. It says that they have the right to ask and that the employer must respond. I think Peter Brown made a very good point on the difference between this legislation and the right under the Employment Relations Act to be responded to with good faith. My question to Opposition members is that if they are saying we have current rights and if they are objecting to this bill on the basis that a case can allegedly go all the way to the Supreme Court how do they think the current rights under the Employment Relations Act are done? 
Kate Wilkinson 
: Why do we need this? 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Well I would not be hiring Ms Wilkinson as a lawyer quite frankly. That could end up in the Employment Court as well. 
I thought it was really really interesting to hear Mr Mapp and I know he has never got over his 90-day bill— 
Russell Fairbrother 
: Not interesting to hear Ms Fenton. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Well no it was because— 
Russell Fairbrother 
: Never interesting— 
DARIEN FENTON 
: No because that member does not understand the reality of the world. He really does not. He was saying that everyone has the right to negotiate. Well that is really nice; people have got the right to ask and they just have to up and say to the boss they would like a pay increase. Did that member not listen to the people from the Hospitality Association? They came along and said they are a very democratic organisation and if people want flexible hours and they say no those people go down the road. That is democracy and that is how it works for lots and lots of people. The fact is that there is a lot stopping people from asking for flexible working hours at the moment; if there was not then we would see it much more widespread than it currently is. 
The Transport and Industrial Relations Committee was certainly told by many many people that although some employers were responding many were not. There is very very uneven application of work-life balance after 5 or 10 years of talking about it and all the nice things that we hear and the various awards that employers get for showing that they recognise work-life balance in their employment. But it is often found in the big end of town—it is the lawyers it is the high-paid workers and so on. For example I do not know any cleaners in the country who have been able to ask their employer for flexible working hours and have been granted them. The cleaners in this workplace—Parliament—have to work at night and if they said to their boss: “Oh well my husband has to work during the day so I’d like to do the cleaning during the day.” do members think that under the current legislation they would have a prayer? I challenge the National members to stay up one night and talk to the cleaners about what life is really like for them and what it is like working for a contractor. I challenge them. 
Sue Moroney 
: The cleaners don’t deserve having to talk to the National Party. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: That is true. I think that the whole purpose and driving force behind this bill is the fact that we are working long hours. Wayne Mapp talked about productivity in Australia and the USA. I point out to him as I did in my second reading speech that Australia and the USA actually have working time regulation. They have it we do not and that is part of our problem. I certainly said that in my second reading speech and we need to do something about it. Those countries have working time regulation so that people who work more than 40 hours a week have to be paid overtime. That is even the case for people earning the minimum wage in the UK—if they work more than 40 hours a week they get paid overtime. That does not happen here and that is why people end up working very very long hours to make ends meet. They work very long and unsafe hours. 
This bill is being welcomed across the board apart from the National Party. I notice that the New Zealand Nurses Organisation is saying that many of its members in the nursing workforce have extensive family commitments that make working rigid rosters difficult and that that often deters them from re-entering the nursing profession once they have children. What we hear in this House day after day is whinging from the other side of the House about the lack of professional health workers and how we cannot attract them and so on. Here is an opportunity for the National members to show they understand. 
Progress reported. 
Report adopted.