The Employment Standards Legislation Bill has been passed, bringing into effect from 1 April 2016 some important changes to the employment statutes. These include extending parental leave, spearing zero hour contracts and strengthening compliance with minimum employment standards.
Parental leave: A greater range of people — for example, certain casual workers and seasonal workers, employees with more than one employer and those that have recently changed jobs — will have the opportunity to access paid parental leave, which is up to 18 weeks from 1 April onwards. The Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act will also extend to a wider range of primary carers than biological or formal adoptive parents.
Employees on paid leave will be able to take ‘keeping-in-touch’ days, enabling them to work limited hours during their paid leave period.
Zero hours contracts and other restrictions
Employers won’t be able to:
- expect employees to be available to work without guaranteeing hours or paying reasonable compensation
- cancel a shift without giving employees reasonable notice and reasonable compensation, both of which must be set out in an employment agreement
- make unreasonable deductions from wages
- unreasonably restrict an employee’s secondary employment.
Enforcing minimum employment standards
Focused on ensuring employers pay at least minimum wage and give employees their proper holiday entitlements. Enforcement measures include a new infringement notice regime, clearer record-keeping requirements, and tougher sanctions for serious breaches such as exploitation.