Wilkinson Kate: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Wilkinson Kate: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:665;Page:12802] 
Hon KATE WILKINSON (Minister of Labour) 
: 
 It is a pleasure for me to take a call on the labour portfolio. With regard to the recently announced employment reforms if one listens to the Labour Party one would think that it was the end of the world and that the sky was falling in. But the feedback that we are receiving is incredibly positive. If we look at the editorials and sieve out the feedback from Labour’s friends we see that it has all been positive. The reforms have been described as moderate thoughtful pragmatic and not radical at all. We are confident that these reforms strike that right balance because we are working hard to turn round the country and the economy. From the debris that was left to us by the previous Labour Government we are working hard to turn round the economy and get people into jobs. 
One of the reforms that we made was to introduce the 90-day trial employment period about which Labour said at the time that the sky would fall in. It came into effect in March 2009 and Labour said the sky would fall in. Actually I tell the Labour members that the sky has not fallen in. Do members remember that back in those days Labour said it was going to name and shame all the bad employers who were exploiting employees—and what has happened? Absolute silence. Not one employer has been named and shamed. Even during the estimates hearing at the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee I was at pains to say I am conscious of the need to avoid the exploitation of workers. That is why we crafted the legislation in the way that we did at the time—to avoid exploitation and to provide practical protections for workers. 
The evaluation of the trial period was pretty positive was it not? 
Carmel Sepuloni 
: Your evaluation doesn’t count. 
Hon KATE WILKINSON 
: It was the department’s evaluation. It showed that 57 percent of employers had hired staff since March 2009. I think that that is pretty good actually. It showed that 74 percent of employees employed on a trial period continued to be employed after the trial period. That is 74 percent. We say three out of four is great. Do members know what the Labour members say? They say one in four does not have a job. Do members know why some people from the one-in-four group do not have a job? One of the reasons was that the employee did not like the job so he or she left. Another reason was that the employee did not find the job suitable. Another reason was that the employee’s family did not want the employee to be employed. Actually three out of four employees continue to be employed. I think that is good for the economy and good for the employment market. Not only is that the case but of those who were employed under the scheme 40 percent of employers said they would not have employed that person if it had not been for a trial period—40 percent. 
Yet the Labour members try to tell us that the trial period does not work. They tried to tell us that the sky had fallen in. They tried to tell us that they would name and shame bad employers and they have not named and shamed one bad employer. Do members know what we have done? We have doubled the penalties for employers so that if there are bad employers they will be pinged. We have doubled the penalties for employers. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Waikanae Post-it—there’s one named and shamed. Would you like another one Minister? 
Hon KATE WILKINSON 
: I have been welcoming any feedback for nearly the past 18 months I say to the Hon Maryan Street but nobody has given me some proof. Now when we are extending the 90-day trial period to all businesses—which by the way brings us more into line with other jurisdictions internationally—is the very time when I would have expected some feedback to tell me that the new law does not work. But nobody has told me that the new law does not work. In the last 18 months nobody has said it does not work. Those members just say that the sky will fall in. Well the sky has not fallen in. 
Do members know about the Labour members’ latest bugbear? Their latest bugbear is about sickies. Their latest bugbear is a concern that in the case of someone being regularly sick on a Friday or a Monday with a hangover we might expect that person to prove that he or she is sick. That is to be done at the cost of the employer yet the Labour members think that the sky will fall in because of that. They want to encourage workers to take sickies on a Friday and Monday. They may like to think that they are pro-productivity but if we talk about people taking sickies on Mondays and Fridays then oh it is the end of the world again.