Are Zero Hour Contracts Legal in Nz

Activists said Campbell Live`s revelation and interest had sparked national opposition to zero-hour contracts. Zero-hour contracts, under which employers do not have to guarantee workers a minimum working time per week, were the aim of a campaign by the Unite union. The union estimates that hundreds of thousands of New Zealand workers are employed on a zero-hour basis, usually in minimum wage jobs in the fast food industry. An availability clause requires an employee to be available to accept work outside of their specified guaranteed working hours. This flexible arrangement is useful in situations where you don`t know now how many hours an employee will need. Hannah Shelton-Agar, 23, is on a zero-hour contract at Auckland`s Hoyts Cinema. The rules still leave flexibility for employers by allowing them to have “availability clauses” in employment contracts. In addition, the laws require you to specify the hours of work agreed between you and the employee. This may include the following: “zero hour” contracts in the past required employees to be available for the work offered, without compensation for availability and without certain guaranteed hours. An availability clause allows the parties to have some flexibility in the agreed hours.

For example, if the employer cannot know in advance exactly how many hours the employee needs. Zero-hour contracts have been banned in New Zealand after Parliament unanimously passed a bill to ban the controversial practice. If there is no availability clause in your agreement that meets these requirements, you can unsubscribe from any work offered to you beyond your guaranteed hours. If you refuse to work, your employer will not be able to fire or discriminate against you in any way. A zero-hour contract is an agreement that an employee must be available for the hours of work you offer each time you offer it, and there are no guaranteed hours of work. Zero-hour contracts are no longer permitted under New Zealand labour law. “The bill eliminates zero-hour contracts by eliminating unfair employment practices where employers do not work hours but expect employees to be available without pay when needed.” This marks the end of one of the ugliest forms of worker exploitation. Under the guise of flexibility, zero-hour contracts are used to control workers, as managers are completely free to choose who gets the shifts. The new law comes into force on April 1, 2016 and stipulates that employers must guarantee a minimum number of hours per week and that employees can refuse overtime without effect. This victory is the culmination of more than a decade of trade union struggle in New Zealand. IndustriALL affiliates were part of the campaign led by unite, which organizes workers in fast food, hospitality and retail, and other sectors with precarious contracts, including call centre workers, security guards and cleaners.

Unite has been fighting for collective agreements since 2003 and has led high-profile campaigns against McDonald`s, KFC and other major employers. In 2005, through the Supersize My Pay campaign, the union won its first collective agreements with fast food multinationals as part of a campaign to raise the minimum wage, abolish tariffs for young people and ensure safe working hours. Mike Treen, Unite`s National Director, explains: “We succeeded in the first two points, but any attempt to secure hours was thwarted by the companies. We were promised to offer existing employees hours before hiring new employees who were included in our agreements, but they were virtually unenforceable in such wealthy industries. The union launched a campaign against zero-hour contracts, which found international solidarity and broad public support. In 2014 and 2015, Unite joined unions around the world for Fast Food Global, a day of action for fast food workers. The issue attracted more attention and sympathy when it was reported by the TELEVISION series CAMPBELL Live Show, and even right-wing journalists began to speak out publicly against zero hours. In 2015, Unite won collective agreements with McDonald`s, KFC, Burger King and Pizza Hut, ending zero-hour and guaranteed hours contracts at these workplaces.

The 2016 legislation extends this victory to all workers. Treen said: “This represents a fundamental change in the employment relationship of the country`s most vulnerable workers.” The New Zealand Parliament voted unanimously in favour of a bill banning “zero-hour employment contracts”. Casual workers have no guarantee of hours, but they can refuse work. On the other hand, zero-hour contracts require employees to be available without giving them the opportunity to refuse to work or receive compensation for their availability. “We have been battling for nine months with Australian DIY store chain Bunnings, which is fiercely committed to transforming its fixed-time workforce into flexible working hours,” said Robert Reid, General Secretary of FIRST Union. MEPs applauded its entry into force. A major campaign led by the unions fought to end zero-hour contracts. This is an important victory against precarious work, as it comes from a sector that is notoriously difficult to organize. Zero-hour contracts remain a serious problem in many countries. According to The Guardian, between 800,000 and 1.5 million workers in the UK are employed on zero-hour contracts.

Similar contracts exist in many other countries. Michael Woodhouse, Minister of Industrial Relations and Safety, said: “The passage of this Act responds to the Government`s commitment to improve New Zealand`s labour law framework to promote fair and productive employment without imposing unnecessary compliance costs on employers in general. The bill eliminates zero-hour contracts by eliminating unfair employment practices where employers do not hire hours of work but expect workers to be available without compensation when needed. The decision to ban zero-hour contracts gained considerable momentum in New Zealand last year when it was picked up by TV3`s live broadcast Campbell for Current Affairs, which has since been scrapped. Employers are now required to include in each employment contract the hours of work agreed between the parties, including: The New Zealand government has decided to end unfair employment practices. That`s why they introduced new laws to make employment practices fairer. The new laws aimed to ban zero-hour contracts. New Zealand`s updated labour laws prohibit zero-hour contracts. However, there are other ways to enable a more flexible design with your employees. You must ensure that all your employment contracts (with the exception of casual workers) indicate the hours of work. In addition, availability clauses must be taken into account if you are not able to predict in advance the exact hours during which an employee will work.

In addition, you must ensure that you have updated your employment contracts so that they comply with these new labor laws. For example, in cases where you can`t know in advance how many hours the employee will need. A zero-hour contract includes an employment contract where an employee must be available but has no guarantee of weekly hours. This may include permanent employment. In addition, employees are not paid because they are waiting and waiting for them to be needed to work. Zero-hour contracts have become widely used in companies such as the following: The relevant factors for reasonable compensation to make you available beyond your guaranteed hours are: In addition, the availability clause requires the employee to be available to accept work beyond their specified guaranteed working hours. “It`s going to change people`s lives. It`s such a relief for so many people to know that at the end of the week they won`t risk having zero dollars.

It also means that workers feel more involved in the workplace and valued for their contribution. An amendment to the law banning zero-hour contracts came into force unanimously. The contracts have also sparked controversy in the UK, where the country`s largest sports retailer, Sports Direct, has 15,000 employees with zero-hour offers. The bill, which was billed on the 1st. April will come into effect, stipulating that employers must guarantee a minimum number of hours of work per week, and employees can refuse overtime without effect. Under the new rules, such zero-hour contracts are illegal. The amended rules are intended to make it fairer for employees while allowing flexibility for an employer by allowing “availability clauses.” If there is no “availability clause” in the agreement, any overtime offered to the employee may be rejected and the employee should not be treated negatively (unlike other similar employees). He said abolishing zero-hour contracts would discourage employers from requiring workers to be available for shifts with no guarantee of work and no compensation. She usually works between 10 and 25 hours a week and said she was “excited” by the ban.

Treen estimates that “hundreds of thousands of workers” are employed in New Zealand on zero-hour contracts, meaning employers don`t have to guarantee minimum working hours per week and often expect employees to be available 24/7. Labour said that without the changes, the legislation would have enshrined criminal contracts.