Perpetual Guardian's founder says he won't consider gig-based system

Tuesday, 2 October 2018

Founder and managing director Andrew Barnes says he was 'anti-gig economy' and would not consider replacing full time staff with contractors.

Perpetual Guardian's managing director has slammed companies who opt to hire contractors instead of employees, and dodge many of their normal legal obligations as a result.

Andrew Barnes confirmed on Tuesday his company will make a four-day week a permanent option for all staff.

But he was critical of other employment trends, such as the 'gig economy'.

'Agile working and the gig economy seem like tempting models but buying flexibility for a company comes at a cost to society and the employees down the track,' Barnes said.

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Etu union assistant national secretary, John Ryall said more people were signing up to work on casual and short-term contracts.

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'Any employee should have base-level standards and in the gig economy workers don't get their minimum employment standards of holiday pay, sick leave.'

Courier drivers on dependent contracts have also claimed they get paid less than the minimum wage and are not allowed or able to work for other courier companies.

Etu union assistant national secretary, John Ryall said more people were signing up to work on casual and short-term contracts, often enabled by technology.

But many contract workers had lost basic protections afforded permanent employees, such as the minimum wage, holidays or parental leave, he said.

Ryall said more businesses were shifting risk from themselves to the employee.

'A contract worker can't do anything to take a personal grievance against their employer. All industries are affected by this, we're seeing this in IT, catering, construction,' Ryall said.

Barnes said he paid workers for their productivity not hours.

'The terms and conditions don't change, we're offering the gift of a day for our employees' productivity.'

After carrying out an eight-week trial earlier this year, Perpetual Guardian has made its four-day week a permanent option for all its full-time workers to take up.

Employees work four days a week but are still paid for five, with no change to holiday pay, sick leave or annual leave entitlements.

Barnes said for the gig economy to work, the employment law would need to change to cover contractors' minimum standards.

'New Zealand needs to look for ways to update how we work in the 21st century.'

Ryall said the union supported the four-day working week.

'New Zealanders work some of the longest hours in the OECD countries. So many of us work overtime. Working four days and getting paid for five days incentivised people to work harder.'