Labour considers UK and Australian-style 'new deal' for workers

Tuesday, 24 September 2024

Labour is looking at following the UK and Australia Labour parties in launching in a “new deal” package for workers.

Camilla Belich, Labour’s spokesperson for workplace relations and safety, said the party had seen the way the UK and Australian Labour parties had successfully packaged up their employment policy plans as “a new deal for workers” to take into elections.

“That’s definitely something that we will be looking at in terms of how we formulate our policy,” she said, saying its new deal package would probably be released earlier in the electoral cycle than would have been the case in the past.

Belich was responding to the Government’s workplace relations and safety minister Brooke van Velden’s announcement last week of a plan to change the law to bring “certainty” to contracting.

That would prevent any follow-ups to Uber drivers’ successful challenge that they were effectively employees of the global ride-sharing business, not contractors.

Van Velden’s plan is to amend the Employment Relations Act to create a “gateway” test (see below) limiting the circumstances in which people working as an “independent” contractor can head to court and claim they are really an employee.

But Labour fears the move would result in further deregulation of the labour market, and Belich said Labour would oppose van Velden’s plan.

The proposed law threatened to undermine a whole raft of hard-won worker rights, including the right to sick leave, holiday leave, KiwiSaver contributions and raising employment disputes, Belich believed.

“I do have these fears that will lead to a proliferation of more contractor as opposed to employee relationships,” Belich said.

“That will be detrimental for not only those people involved, but for for all of us who kind of want a few go for people at work,” Belich said.

“I don't think I don't think that's what New Zealanders want.

Before it lost power, Labour had been working on its own changes to the Employment Relations Act to codify the principles from cases like the Uber driver in black letter law to make it “accessible to regular people”.

As well as reworking van Velden’s proposed law changes, there are some leading contenders for a Labour new deal package.

Labour was disappointed the Government repealed its Fair Pay laws that allowed for entire sector pay negotiations, which the Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi hoped would benefit 200,000 workers in the poorly-paid early childhood, cleaning, security, supermarket, bus driver, hospitality, and ports sectors.

But another cherished Labour hope was the introduction of a national income insurance scheme paid for by levies on wages, which National dubbed as a “jobs tax”.

There is also speculation that Labour is considering making KiwiSaver compulsory.

In addition Belich is trying to criminalise “corporate manslaughter”, and also “wage theft”, while Labour MP Helen White is seeking to put limitations on the use of “restraint of trade” clauses in employment contracts and contractor contracts, which van Velden referenced in her law change plans.

What would van Velden’s ‘gateway’ test be?

Businesses will be able to defeat contractors claiming to really be employees in court if:

– There is a written agreement with the worker, specifying they are an independent contractor,

– And, the business does not restrict the worker from working for another business, including competitors,

– And, the business does not require the worker to be available to work on specific times of day or days, or for a minimum number of hours, or the worker can sub-contract the work,

– And, the business does not terminate the contract if the worker does not accept an additional task or engagement.