National rejects 90-day bill claim

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Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson has brushed off claims the Government accidentally allowed its 90-day employment probation law to kick in a month earlier than planned as it passed its final stages.

National voted in favour of an amendment from ACT MP David Garrett that will see the law take effect from March 1, rather than April 1 bringing claims from Labour that National had not realised what it was voting for.

The claim was rejected by Ms Wilkinson and Leader of the House Gerry Brownlee, who both said it had been intended to allow the amendment. Ms Wilkinson said there was a compromise with ACT, which wanted the law to start from February. National thought the law, which it says will make it easier for small businesses to take on staff they are unsure about, should start sooner amid signs of a rapidly cooling economy, but February did not give enough time for the Labour Department to set up helplines and other systems.

The law allows businesses with 20 staff or less to sack new workers within 90 days of starting, without running the risk of a claim of unjustifiable dismissal. Workers will still have remedies for discrimination or racial or sexual harassment. Labour and the Greens have branded the bill a "fire at will" law. It was also opposed by the Maori Party, which is in a support deal with National.

Ms Wilkinson said the law was designed to make it easier for small businesses to hire people who normally found it difficult to get work, but there were signs yesterday it could backfire as three employment lawyers said they would now advise workers not to take jobs in small businesses.

Simon Mitchell and Helen White, from Unity Chambers, and Greg Lloyd, from the National Distribution Union, said the law would open the door to people being dismissed without reason or without being told the reason. They advised that people who could not afford to lose their job or were in secure employment should not take work in businesses with less than 20 staff.

- © Fairfax NZ News