[New Zealand] New workers need access to sick leave too

In New Zealand, the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) is calling on Parliament to ditch a rule requiring workers to be employed for six months before they are entitled to sick leave, NZ Herald reports.

A bill proposing to double employees' sick leave entitlements from five days to 10 is now before a select committee. Last week the CTU presented on the topic to the Education and Workforce committee.

CTU secretary, Melissa Ansell-Bridges, reportedly said people need to be able to access sick leave, no matter how long they have been working in the role. 

She said the bill shows the doubled sick leave would not be mandatory for businesses for another two years. Ms Ansell-Bridges said more urgency is needed and recent opinion polls reflect the public's support for this.

More than 1200 people responded to an online poll by the CTU from 3-6 January this year about the impact COVID-19 has had on working life.

An overwhelming 94 per cent of people supported the government's planned increase in sick leave from five to 10 days.

According to Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment estimates, the Government's decision to double minimum sick leave will cost a billion dollars a year - nearly 1 per cent of the country's annual wage bill - and the cost will be borne by employers.

The increase of annual sick leave from a minimum of five to 10 days, for which a bill was introduced in December, is the second and by far the most expensive of Labour's three main labour-market policy changes promised in the 2020 election.

The extra sick leave has an estimated cost of more than the minimum wage increase and the new Matariki holiday combined.

A 5.8 per cent rise in the minimum wage is scheduled for April 1, the sick leave increase is expected to come into effect in the second half of 2021 and Labour promised a new public holiday at Matariki from 2022.

Currently about half of employers in New Zealand give their staff the statutory minimum.

In New Zealand, the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) is calling on Parliament to ditch a rule requiring workers to be employed for six months before they are entitled to sick leave, NZ Herald reports.

A bill proposing to double employees' sick leave entitlements from five days to 10 is now before a select committee. Last week the CTU presented on the topic to the Education and Workforce committee.

CTU secretary, Melissa Ansell-Bridges, reportedly said people need to be able to access sick leave, no matter how long they have been working in the role. 

She said the bill shows the doubled sick leave would not be mandatory for businesses for another two years. Ms Ansell-Bridges said more urgency is needed and recent opinion polls reflect the public's support for this.

More than 1200 people responded to an online poll by the CTU from 3-6 January this year about the impact COVID-19 has had on working life.

An overwhelming 94 per cent of people supported the government's planned increase in sick leave from five to 10 days.

According to Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment estimates, the Government's decision to double minimum sick leave will cost a billion dollars a year - nearly 1 per cent of the country's annual wage bill - and the cost will be borne by employers.

The increase of annual sick leave from a minimum of five to 10 days, for which a bill was introduced in December, is the second and by far the most expensive of Labour's three main labour-market policy changes promised in the 2020 election.

The extra sick leave has an estimated cost of more than the minimum wage increase and the new Matariki holiday combined.

A 5.8 per cent rise in the minimum wage is scheduled for April 1, the sick leave increase is expected to come into effect in the second half of 2021 and Labour promised a new public holiday at Matariki from 2022.

Currently about half of employers in New Zealand give their staff the statutory minimum.