The proposed Employment Leave Bill, driven by ACT and supported by National and NZ First, will strip entitlements from workers who work part-time or irregular hours, or are paid penal rates.
PSA members have been working hard to show the Government how the changes to how our holidays are calculated will leave them thousands of dollars worse off.
In May, members explained to the Education and Workforce Select Committee how the bill will affect them. Below are some highlights, covering the four key ways the bill will make workers worse off.
GEORGINA HARNETT, HEALTH PROTECTION OFFICER
Georgina spoke about the change in the bill that give her a pay cut, because it would stop her on-call allowance and overtime from being reflected in her pay.
“At the moment, when I go on leave, my on-call allowance and overtime is reflected in my pay. But if I was paid the way this bill was suggested, I'd be paid $400 less a week when I went on leave than I am now. Some of this would be offset by the leave compensation payment, but most wouldn't.
“A couple of years ago, I was burnt out from being doing extra on-call and overtime. And I had to be off work for a couple of months and return to work gradually due to sickness … And the extra allowance in my leave meant that I could pay for medical bills and still have food coming in and cover all my other daily bills as well. And that provided me a lot of financial relief during a really hard time.”
LAURA LUSK, CARE AND SUPPORT WORKER
Laura explained the impact of the bill cutting her leave because her hours vary from week to week.
“Right now, I get 10 days sick leave – that's about 70 hours a year. Under this bill, that would be cut to 36 hours a year, even though I work, on average, 33 hours a week.
“If we have less sick leave, we won't take time off for mild illnesses. The problem with that is that what's mild for us isn't mild for someone in their 90s. The average age of clients where I work is 81. Older people get sick easily, and if we don't get the sick leave that we need, clients are going to get sick.”
She also spoke about the bill cutting leave for anyone working shorter shifts on public holidays.
“At the moment, we get a day in lieu [for working on a public holiday]. That day is why people work on holidays. Under this bill, we would only get 4 hours in lieu on a day like that.
“When we work on public holidays, we're looking after other people rather than spending time with our own families. We deserve a day in lieu for that service to other people and sacrificing Christmas morning with our own children to make sure that others are safe.”
ROSS CAMPBELL, CORRECTIONS WORKER
Ross shared a personal story to illustrate how the changes in the will leave anyone who’s badly injured with less leave.
“I'm going to share a personal experience to you that happened to me back in 2001 when I had an accident and I was off for approximately 2 1/2 years. I followed that by at least six months return to work into the job that I'm into now. Throughout that time, [I] ended up losing my leg.
“So, I needed financial support during that time. Sick days and annual leave days were always there to prop up my income to 100%. Without that, I would never have achieved what I am today.
“This bill will take that away – when you're on long-term ACC, you will not be accumulating leave. I still rely on that now for medical appointments into the limb centre 10 to 15 times a year. But what it did was it allowed me to come back to the job – spend another 20 years in this job.”
OUR VOICES MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The other PSA members who spoke to the Select Committee were Mary Becker, Helen Foley, Andrea McLachlan, Ross Thorby, Trish Lastovicka, Tyler Proctor, Eleanor Haggerty-Drummond, Dom Barry and Daniel Scott. They all gave compelling insights into how the bill would leave them worse off.
We hope the Committee takes their testimony to heart when it reports back on 13 July. But no matter what happens, we will keep pushing back against the changes in this bill that would leave us worse off – the Government cannot get away with taking so much from working people.
Find out more about the Employment Leave Bill and how we’re working to stop it
