Blue Jackie: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Blue Jackie: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 21 July 2010. Volume:665;Page:12539. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 My congratulations go to John Key Kate Wilkinson and this National-led Government on the planned extension of the 90-day trial period to all businesses. National is a party that backs business and backs workers because we know that without jobs and growth New Zealand and New Zealanders will not get ahead. 
Having a job is crucial to people’s self-esteem and to giving them choices and independence. That is why this Government has had an unrelenting focus on getting people into jobs. We make no apology for that—none whatsoever. The extension of the 90-day trial period to all businesses is about getting people into jobs and giving employers the confidence to take on new staff. An increase in the number of jobs where jobs are not currently available does not magically appear out of thin air. A business needs to see the opportunity to expand and it is important that it needs to be confident to create those new jobs. The hysteria that has surrounded the announcement has been quite astonishing. Anyone would have thought that sweatshops had been introduced. On the contrary this is a step forward not a step back. 
Previously the 90-day trial was for small to medium sized businesses with fewer than 20 staff. Our nation’s backbone is small to medium sized businesses. The fact is that 99 percent of New Zealand businesses which employ 60 percent of our workers are small to medium sized. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: No no the figures are wrong. 
Dr JACKIE BLUE 
: Not according to the Human Rights Commission. The member should read its report. These businesses generate a big part of our wealth. When they prosper we all prosper. 
National’s plans for small to medium sized businesses link with National’s plan for growing the economy. The 90-day trial period was an integral part of our election manifesto in 2008. It was aimed at small to medium sized businesses because they are crucial to our economy. Many small businesses do not have the human resources of larger companies. The 90-day trial will now be extended to all businesses and that can only be good for people needing jobs for businesses and for New Zealand. 
A recent review found that half of all employers had used a trial period when hiring workers. In relation to the last employee that an employer had hired on a trial basis 40 percent of employers said they would not have or were unlikely to have hired that person without having a trial period. To put it another way without the 90-day trial 40 percent of businesses would most likely have not hired that person. That is an excellent outcome. 
The evaluation suggests that employers view dismissals during the 90-day trial period as being unfavourable and actively try to avoid them. Indeed dismissals were not given on the 89th day as some cynical members and unionists might have predicted but were given mainly in the first few weeks. The evidence is clear from the evaluation that employers were not out to exploit those employees who were hired under the 90-day trial. 
I challenge members opposite. If unscrupulous employers have been using the 90-day trial period in an unethical manner then I ask why those businesses have not been named and shamed. The fact is that in general employers have acted responsibly and workers have been treated fairly. It is important to note that the 90-day trial can only be entered into by a written agreement between the employer and the new worker at the beginning of the employment relationship. 
I was interested to read the Human Rights Commission’s recent publication  
What Next? National Conversation About Work 
. The publication blows a few tired old myths out of the water and exposes a few truths. The first truth is that work is a critical source of well-being and identity and that is something the Government absolutely agrees with. 
Dr Rajen Prasad 
: Who didn’t know that? What’s the myth that blows? 
Dr JACKIE BLUE 
: It is a truth not a myth. 
One myth exposed was that all bosses are bastards. It was the observation of the Human Rights Commission that the “employers we met especially in smaller businesses were more likely to treat their staff as extended family than as labour units.” The article went on to state that many of the employers the commission spoke to were responsive to the needs of their employees such as family responsibilities emergencies and other life events and were devastated by the emotional trauma of redundancies when they had to lay off staff. It is hardly the comment one would find in a Charles Dickens novel. 
Another myth was that workers are slackers. The Human Rights Commission found that there was universal enthusiasm by employees not just for the socialisation of work but also for the tasks functions and professionalism required of them by change in the labour market. 
So the hugely respected Human Rights Commission after meeting hundreds of employers and hundreds of employees found—wait for it—happy employers and happy employees. It is not the sort of picture that unions want to paint. 
The extension of the 90-day trial is about opportunity. It is about giving people the chance to find a job.