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The government has introduced a bill to double the legal minimum paid sick leave to 10 days a year by the end of 2021.
However, you have chosen not to increase the maximum amount of sick leave that an employee can accrue, keeping that limit at 20 days.
Labor campaigned to double sick leave before the election, selling the policy as crucial to the Covid-19 recovery and long overdue.
However, he rejected a push from the Green Party for this policy to be ended by Christmas.
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Instead, he expects the law to change in mid-2021, with the changes going into effect two months after approval.
Employees will not suddenly have more sick leave, and the entitlement will take effect depending on when they were employed.
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
Ardern campaigned for politics during the elections.
New Labor Relations Minister Michael Wood said the change would benefit both the employee and the employer.
“Covid-19 has shown how important it is to stay home when people are sick. The vacation amendment bill (increased sick leave) will mean that more workers can stay home if they are sick, and more sick leave will help support working parents, ”Wood said.
“We know that companies also benefit when their staff stay home when they are sick; it means that errors do not spread, resulting in fewer absences and higher productivity.
“Respondents to the 2015 American Working Conditions Survey who reported working while ill estimated that this reduced their productivity by about 20 percent on average, and an Australian study found that the healthiest workers are up to three times as many productive “.
RNZ
The woman at the center of the Auckland case was a retail worker for A to Z Collections in High St.
He acknowledged that many employees were already enjoying more than the legal minimum of five days.
“While about half of all employers provide the current minimum entitlement of five days, many employers already offer 10 days or more, and this will not mean any change for them. But five days can be easily used and employees who have exhausted their sick leave are faced with the choice between working while sick or taking sick leave without pay, which is not an option for many.
“Currently, the bill would not give all employees additional sick leave the same day. Employees will receive an increase in their entitlements depending on when they started, allowing companies time to prepare. The bill also maintains the current maximum entitlement that allows any unused sick leave to carry over up to 20 days per year. “
New Zealand workers take comparatively less paid sick leave than most in the developed world. Australia and most of Europe offer many more days of paid sick leave.
The Chief Advocate for the Employers and Manufacturers Association, Alan McDonald, has opposed the decision to double sick leave.
“We believe that we are not very sure that there is a problem that needs to be solved. We are in the midst of an exceptional set of circumstances, which has been the engine behind the momentum for 10 days, “said McDonald.
National Party labor relations spokesman Scott Simpson said the time was not right to extend sick leave.
“The government is using Covid-19 as its rationale for doubling sick leave, but if that were the case, surely the change would be temporary rather than permanent,” Simpson said.
“Doubling sick leave just adds up to more costs for companies at a time when they can least afford it, in addition to the increases in the minimum wage and the proposed additional holiday.
The government expects the law to cost the country about 0.9 percent of the annual wage bill.
Wood also confirmed that the government was considering making changes to the Covid-19 licensing scheme, which pays employers to keep some, but not all, employees at home after a Covid-19 test.
Those who are awaiting a Covid-19 test result but who are not part of a high-risk group, do not live with a high-risk group, or work with high-risk groups are not eligible for the scheme.
