Mallard Trevor: Employment Relations (Breaks and Infant Feeding) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Mallard Trevor: Employment Relations (Breaks and Infant Feeding) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:646;Page:15511] 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Labour) 
: 
 I move  
That the Employment Relations (Breaks and Infant Feeding) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I will move that the Employment Relations (Breaks and Infant Feeding) Amendment Bill be referred to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee for consideration that the committee report the bill by 22 July 2008 and that the committee have the authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions during any evening on a day when there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week when there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 192 and 195(1)(b) and (c). I have been given an assurance that the members of the select committee have been supportive of that approach. 
The Labour-led Government seeks to boost protections for vulnerable workers and breastfeeding mothers by legislating for minimum meal and rest breaks and the protection of employees who wish to breastfeed their babies at work. The bill amends the Employment Relations Act 2000 to require employers to provide facilities and breaks for employees who wish to breastfeed or express breast milk either at work or during work time. The bill also amends the Act to provide employees with rest and meal breaks. 
These amendments will create minimum standards for a modern workforce in respect of the protection and promotion of infant feeding and I might say in respect of what many of us had thought had been the case for 100 years as far as the provision of rest and meal breaks is concerned. The amendments also support Government policy concerning the choices of employees particularly when it comes to work-life balance and parenting responsibilities. 
I acknowledge the hard work of Sue Moroney whose member’s bill formed the basis for the rest and meal break provisions that are contained in this bill and also Steve Chadwick whose member’s bill on breastfeeding was the basis for the infant feeding provisions of the bill. 
I think it would surprise many people that no statutory requirement for meal and rest breaks exists but minimum entitlements to rest breaks and meal breaks during a working day are already in the vast majority of collective agreements. However anecdotal evidence has suggested that some sectors—service and manufacturing sectors in particular and sectors where there are vulnerable workers—may be providing less than the breaks specified in this bill. Most New Zealanders would have thought like me that these sorts of minimum entitlements are already part of the law and although many workers do enjoy these protections the Government is making sure that there is absolutely no doubt that these basic entitlements must be provided for. 
Breastfeeding is critical to providing the best start for New Zealand infants and it is important in both infant and maternal health. It also helps employers in their staff recruitment and retention by helping mothers return to paid work at a time of their choosing. Employees’ current access to breastfeeding breaks and facilities in the workplace is however mixed. This bill amends the Employment Relations Act to require that all employers provide appropriate facilities and breaks for employees who wish to breastfeed or express breast milk either at work or during work time where it is reasonable and practicable. In deciding what is reasonable and practicable employers will be able to take into account their operational environment and resources and clearly the size of the workplace will be a factor. The breaks are unpaid unless the employee and the employer agree otherwise and they are to be provided in addition to the rest and meal breaks. The rest and meal breaks can be used as breastfeeding breaks however where an employer and employee agree. 
There will be a code of employment practice approved as soon as possible after the enactment of the legislation. This code will provide employers with guidance on how to uphold their obligations for the provision of breastfeeding breaks and facilities and employers may be liable to penalties imposed by the Employment Relations Authority if they do not comply with these requirements. The authority will also have the power to order employers to comply with their obligations. 
The bill also amends the Employment Relations Act to require employers to provide employees with paid rest breaks and unpaid meal breaks. Employees will be entitled to one 10-minute rest break if they have worked 4 hours or less to one 10-minute rest break and one 30-minute break if they have worked between 4 and 6 hours and to two 10-minute rest breaks and one 30-minute meal break if they have worked between 6 and 8 hours. These requirements will begin over again if an employee works more than 8 hours. 
The rest and meal breaks must be provided in the middle of the work period where reasonable and practicable. However employees and employers may agree to vary the timing of the breaks. Employers and employees will also be able to enhance or to have additional entitlements to rest and meal breaks. These entitlements will not apply to employees who are already provided with them by other legislative or regulatory provisions or by their employment agreements where those other enactments are enhanced or additional to the entitlements in the bill. Again employers may be liable to a penalty under the Employment Relations Act if they do not comply and there will be an ability for the authority to have the power to order compliance on employers. 
This bill reflects the Government’s commitment to the protection of our country’s more vulnerable workers it reflects this Government’s commitment to the children of New Zealand and it recognises that breastfeeding is critical to providing the best start in life for babies. I commend the bill to the House.