Bennett David: Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Bennett David: Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 The Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill is something that the National Party has thought long and hard about. It is a piece of legislation that has been brought forward by Sue Kedgley as a member’s bill. It relates to some very important issues that I think everybody in this Chamber will be greatly aware of and desire to see the best results possible in our work environments and in our community as well. However the National Party cannot support this bill at this stage. We do have some reservations in regard to the bill and it was a difficult process for us to go through. We really do appreciate the way that it was put forward by Sue Kedgley and the way that she showed such dedication to the process but we feel that it was not quite what is needed at this stage for the New Zealand work environment. 
Today we are looking at certain clauses of the bill and in particular new sections 69AA to 69AAJ in new Part 6AA inserted by clause 6A. They cover the basic requirements of the legislation such as the employee’s statutory right to make requests the duties of the employer and the process for resolving disputes. These are based primarily on the British approach which Sue Kedgley used as the basis for this legislation. However in doing that there were a number of additions that the Green Party put into the bill that I think made it unsatisfactory from our point of view and it is something that we need to look at again as a political institution at some stage in the future should this bill not come into force. 
One of the key things that I think the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee accepted—and it was very grateful for the submissions made by people who came in—was that there is a genuine need for flexible working hours within the work environment. However it was also made clear to us that many employers already do advocate and give flexible working hours to their staff. It gave us great heart to see how employers took on board this need. They did recognise the need to look after their staff but also recognised that they had employment contracts that had to be dealt with and they had to keep their employment relationship in a manner that enabled them to continue their business and that entire employment relationship. 
One of the key things that I think many submitters focused on was the fact that they already offer flexible working hours especially in the economic environment we have at the moment. It is very difficult to get good staff it is very difficult to retain good staff and employers take a lot of pride in their staff. They want to look after them they want to train them they want to make the staff feel valued and they want to make the staff want to come back and stay with that employer. In doing so they will be willing to negotiate and offer flexible working arrangements to their staff—it is in their best interests to do so. That was the message that we got from the employers. When we look at new Part 6AA— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: I am sorry we are on clause 3—the purpose clause. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: If we look at the purpose of the legislation it is very much a case of whether there is a need for change or whether there is existing flexibility within the workplace to enable employers to offer flexible working hours. 
The key conclusion from employers was that they did have the ability they did have the desire and—more important—they did actively engage in giving flexible working hours to their staff. It became obvious that in a tight labour market as there is in New Zealand that was something the employers were going to do and would keep on doing to retain their staff. There did not seem to be a need to change the rules. There did not seem to be a major issue out there of employers not being willing or able to do so. They would bend the rules where they could to give these flexible working arrangements to their staff and the legislation as it currently stood was not an impediment to their doing so; it was merely a case of negotiation.