Paid Parental LeaveParliament acted under urgency to pass the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Paid Parental Leave) Bill before the Easter holiday recess. The Act will take effect from 1 July 2002. The main provisions of the Act are:
eligible employees will receive up to $325 gross per week for up to12 weeks to care for babies delivered or adopted on or after 1 July 2002to qualify for the payment employees must have worked for the same employer for more than 12 months and have worked an average of 10 hours per week the entitlement to paid leave may be transferred to the eligible employee's spouse. The definition of spouse includes a same sex partnerthe payment is funded by the Government from general taxation.Employees who are entitled to paid parental leave under their employment agreements will not have their entitlement reduced by their statutory entitlement, unless they agree. Employers who reduce employees' entitlement without their agreement may be liable to a penalty under the Employment Relations Act 2000.
Heath & SafetyThe Transport and Industrial Relations Committee is at present considering approximately 6000 submissions on the Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Bill. The Committee is to report back to the House by 4 June 2002. In our November 2001 bulletin we set out the main provisions of the Bill. For a copy of the November 2001 e-bulletin please contact michelle.fleming@phillipsfox.com
Holidays ActSignificant changes to the Holidays Act are proposed. Draft legislation is expected to be introduced this year.
The proposed reforms include:
reinstatement of penal rates of time and a half for all workers working public holidays, in addition to the day in lieu they are currently entitled to5 days sick and domestic leave, which may be accumulated up to a maximum of 15 daysa new separate entitlement to 3 days bereavement leave and an additional day's bereavement leave where the employer accepts that the employee has suffered a bereavement - the employer will be required to take into account cultural requirements when making this determination'ordinary pay' to be based on the Ports of Auckland case, where it was decided that 'ordinary pay' was the pay an employee would receive for an ordinary working day. This will include workers paid by salary, although the details of how that should operate are still to be finalised.increased penalties for breaches of the Holidays Act to bring it in line with the Employment Relations Act - breaches may incur increased penalties of $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a company, with the maximum penalties for a continuing offence increasing $1,000 every day that the offence continues.Although the reforms will increase costs for some employers, simplification of the Act should result in a decrease in time spent complying with the present Act and lessen the risk of error.
This is a general summary only and should not be taken as a substitute for specific advice.
For further information contact Andrea Lawton: andrea.lawton@phillipsfox.com
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