A summer summary

OPINION: It's that time of year when it's time to look back on what's happened and time to look forward to what we have in store for the coming year, writes Brian Richardson in this week's Work to Rule.

One of the things that we can look back upon is the Inland Revenue changes to meal allowances that was backdated to April 1, 2008.

Where an employer pays to, or on behalf of the employee, a meal allowance in certain circumstances this will be "exempt income".

Those circumstances are where the employee has worked at least two hours' overtime on the day of the meal and either, the employment agreement provides for the payment of overtime hours; or the employer has an established policy or practice of paying for overtime meals.

If you do make provision for the payment of a meal allowance then it is appropriate for you to raise the matter with your accountant at the time of the annual "washup" of accounts with them. The rules may have changed for you. There was also the introduction of the bill that amended the rest and meal break legislation.

The aim of the Government is to introduce flexibility for workplaces so that rest breaks and meal breaks better suit service or production continuity.

Here employers and employees will be able to negotiate flexible arrangements as to when breaks take place, but with no intention of allowing employers to avoid providing for them.

We will let you know what exactly the new requirements are and when they come into force, when the law is passed.

We can look forward to the Government trying to make more sense out of the Holidays Act next year.

It seems, from newspaper reports, that the minister has received a comprehensive report from the panel charged with the review. What looks to be top of the table is that workers will be able to "cash in" a week's holiday and receive a week's pay instead.

Unions are worried that employees will be disadvantaged, but employers will have to remember that if a worker cashes in their fourth week of annual leave they will be paid 53 weeks for a 52-week year, so there is some cost to the employer. The payoff to employers will be in the extra productivity of the extra week working rather than holidaying.

The Labour Minister wants to standardise the rate at which leave is calculated and paid. She wants there to be a single rate of pay for all leave, whether it be annual, sick, bereavement or public holiday.

The government looks likely to keep public holidays at the current 11 with no change to Easter Sunday, which will remain as a normal Sunday, much to the consternation of those who have to work that day. There was also no thought given to making March 18 a public holiday; a day to recover from the excesses of St Patrick's Day as was the want of one submittor to the review panel. There will also be the right for workers to transfer public holidays, allowing people to take a public holiday on an alternative day to the day it falls.

This will work well where, for instance, a holiday falls on a Thursday and the employer and employees can agree to taking the day on the Friday allowing for a long weekend.

The Government will move to entrench current leave and holiday entitlements for casual employees as well.

The view of the minister, and many of the contributors to the review, was that holiday legislation is too complex. It's so complex that even the courts have difficulty in ascertaining what different rights and obligations are granted under the legislation.

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