Woodhouse Michael: Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWoodhouse Michael: Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 03 November 2015. Volume:709;Page:7615. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): I move That the Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Commerce Committee to consider the bill. New Zealand has 3½ restricted trading days. They are Good Friday Easter Sunday Christmas Day and Anzac Day until 1 p.m. On those days shops are restricted from trading with the public. Some areas and most know about them like Taupō and Queenstown have an exemption from these restrictions but there are others—Ponsonby Road. Even in my home city of Dunedin an exemption exists for trading in the Carnegie Centre in Moray Place but “Only Arts Crafts Children’s Toys & Books (toys and books sold only while performances happening on the mezzanine floor)”. I think it is a very good example of an arbitrary and outdated exemption regime. Those exemptions predate the Shop Trading Hours Repeal Act 1990 and were made at a time when there were far more general trading restrictions on weekends.Easter trading restrictions have been the subject of numerous debates both in this House and around the country. The Government acknowledges that Easter remains a significant time for many New Zealand communities. New Zealand like other comparable countries provides for public holidays on Good Friday and Easter Monday. However this Government also acknowledges that many New Zealanders want to be able to undertake a range of activities over the long weekend including being able to shop. In addition those involved in our retail and tourism sectors wish to be able to provide their goods and services. Tourists also come to expect it. A large and growing number of events are scheduled over Easter—for example Warbirds over Wānaka International Air Show. It draws large crowds from New Zealand and around the world and the inability to do a bit of shopping around those events is something of an anathema.This bill provides a pragmatic solution to a problem that has been considered on numerous occasions by this House. One such consideration was of a member’s bill in the name of Todd McClay narrowly defeated in late 2009 and I want to acknowledge the Hon Todd McClay and Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean for their advocacy on this issue on behalf of the communities they represent. Mr McClay’s bill proposed that authority be given to local authorities to decide whether shops should open on Easter Sunday rather than have that dictated to them. I agreed with that sentiment then as I do now and this bill is modelled on that goal.The bill will enable territorial authorities to create by-laws that will allow shops in their districts or parts of their districts to open for trade on Easter Sunday. The bill will also provide shop employees with the ability to refuse to work on Easter Sunday out of respect for the significance of that day for many New Zealanders. The use of by-laws will give communities the choice about whether shops will be allowed to trade. The by-laws would require territorial authorities to give consideration to community views. By-laws require community consultation a review process and a requirement that they be made available to the public. Providing territorial authorities with the discretion to lift shop trading restrictions through a by-law for their entire district or parts of it will enable them to give effect to the views of their communities.The bill has a transitional provision for businesses operating shops in malls that have terms and conditions in their contracts or lease arrangements with the mall requiring them to be open during certain times. The transitional provision means that those terms and conditions will not apply to Easter Sunday. The transitional provision however will not apply to any contract or lease agreement entered into after the commencement of the amendment.This bill will preserve the exemptions that have been in place for towns such as Taupō and for garden centres on Easter Sunday. I have maintained these exemptions to avoid any confusion for the public and disruption to the concerned businesses. The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment will continue to be responsible for the enforcement of all breaches of shop trading restrictions on Easter Sunday—local government will not be responsible for enforcement. This is consistent with the enforcement of shop trading rules on the other restricted trading days.Easter Sunday has never been a public holiday. While some assert that Easter Sunday is a guaranteed day off this is misleading. With the shops being closed and unable to trade with the public shop employees may be required to do other work in the shop such as stocktaking. If workers do get time away from work they are entitled to be paid only when they take annual leave.The bill introduces a new protection for shop employees. Employees of shops that will be able to open on Easter Sunday will have the right to refuse to work that day. This protects a shop employee—Hon Members: Yeah right!Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: You hear the cynics on the other side—they do not like choice. They do not like choice. This will protect a shop employee from being compelled to work on Easter Sunday or from being treated adversely for their refusal to work on Easter Sunday. Any such action by an employer would allow an employee to bring a personal grievance action against them in accordance with the Employment Relations Act 2000. This right to refuse to work on Easter Sunday will be extended to all shop employees who work in shops that can open on Easter Sunday under the Act. This includes employees who currently work in shops that are able to open on Easter Sunday such as those garden centres petrol stations and dairies and shops in places with exemptions from trading restrictions. The bill will also ensure that an employment agreement cannot require a shop employee to work on Easter Sunday. Any such provision in an employment agreement will be unenforceable.The bill will require territorial authorities to inform the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment of the by-laws they introduce. This is for the purpose of enforcement and for information about by-laws that will be made available through territorial authorities and the ministry website. This will ensure that the ministry can enforce the shop trading rules and that the public is well aware of where shop trading is permitted through a by-law.This bill will also simplify the name of the principal Act from the Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal Act 1990 to the simpler Shop Trading Hours Act 1990.What I have proposed is a balanced package that provides choice to local communities regarding whether or not to trade on Easter Sunday while also giving protections to all shop employees. I commend it to the House.