Employment Law Changes
About the Author:
SARAH TOWNSEND
Partner at Duncan Cotterill
Sarah is a specialist employment and health and safety lawyer. She works collaboratively with clients providing solutions-focused advice from a wide range of industries, including education, agri-business, insurance and construction.
After almost a year long process, the Employment Relations Amendment Bill (Bill) has now passed into law. Looking ahead, this will create significant change for 2019. The Bill comes into force in three parts over the next 6 months as follows:
Changes now in force:
• Union representatives are able to access the workplace without consent where a collective agreement is in force or bargaining is taking place.
• Unions are able to initiate bargaining 60 days before the collective agreement expires.
• Employers are no longer able to opt out of bargaining for a Multi-Employer Collective Agreement (MECA), however, there is no duty to conclude a MECA.
• Reinstatement is now the primary remedy.
Changes in force on 6 May 2019:
• Union delegates will be entitled to reasonable paid time off to represent employees.
• The duty of good faith will require parties bargaining for a collective employment agreement to conclude a collective employment agreement.
• The rates of wages and salary will be required to be included in collective employment agreements.
• Employer’s obligations to prospective and new employees who are not union members will be changing, including a duty to pass union information.
• Trial periods will no longer be available to all employers and will only be available to small to medium sized employers (employers with fewer than 20 employees).
• All businesses taking over a contract involving ‘vulnerable’ employees will have to employ the people currently doing the work on the same terms and conditions.
• Rest and meal breaks will return to the previous prescriptive approach in terms of length and timing.
Changes in force 6 months after Royal Assent (June 2019):
• Union membership status will become a prohibited ground of discrimination.
Partner
Duncan Cotterill
03 379 2430
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