Pettis Jill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Pettis Jill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:615;Page:11369] 
2. JILL PETTIS (Labour—Whanganui) 
 to the  
Minister of Labour 
: Has she received any reports on the Holidays Act 2003? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON (Minister of Labour) 
: 
 Yes. I see it has been reported that Dr Brash has now clarified his understanding of bereavement leave which he had mis-termed “tangi leave”. He has now said: “I may be incorrect but I didn’t make it up off the top of my head.” Is that another example of a National Party U-turn or a cynical grab at votes using the race issue? 
Jill Pettis 
: Can the Minister further advise whether she has received any reports on bereavement leave? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON 
: Yes. I have seen reports from Richard Worth attempting to quantify bereavement leave as expensive for employers based on an unlikely example of an employee attending a funeral almost every week during the year. It is another example of using race to cynically grab votes. The Holidays Act gives the same rights and confers the same obligations on everyone regardless of race. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I can tell members that the reception for the Minister of Labour’s question is perfect outside this building. If members cannot hear in this building and they want me to ban all interjections during answers then I will. I heard the Minister’s answer. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: To the outgoing Minister of Labour— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: To the Minister of Labour. The member knows that he made a mistake. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: I am relatively new on this bench. Does the new Holidays Act 2003 unlike the Act it replaces allow bereavement leave to be taken an unlimited number of times in a year and can employees take the leave in instances where they are not related to the deceased but have some “cultural responsibility” unlike the situation under the previous Act? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON 
: The Act allows every employee to take 3 days’ leave on the death of a specified family member. There is also provision for every employee to have 1 extra day’s leave for the death of a person who is close to him or her. That however is at the discretion of the employer. Factors that are suggested may be taken into account are the closeness of the relationship and the significant responsibility someone may have. That would include any cultural responsibilities relating to that death. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister is interjecting far too much and it is all in the second person. I am not leaving anyone alone. 
Paul Adams 
: What steps has the Minister taken that will help employers to comply with the conflicts and adverse administration ramifications such as recording the specific details of each leave day taken by employees and engaging in complicated formulae to determine accurate pay rates that the introduction of the Holidays Act 2003 will demand? 
Hon MARGARET WILSON 
: The department has sent out 150000 information packs to employers. Certainly we know from monitoring the call centre that queries have been coming in and have been answered and the department is using all its resources to inform members about the implications of the legislation and how to make sure that it is implemented correctly.