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Small businesses say good relationships with their staff are more important than changes in government rules on sick pay.
The government on Monday introduced a bill to double the legal minimum paid sick leave to 10 days a year by the end of 2021. The number of days that can be stored will remain at 20.
John Galvin, who employs 11 people at The Surgery classic car restoration business in Tawa, said the number of legal sick days was irrelevant.
“Companies must take care of their people independently,” he said. “The last thing a person wants if they are dealing with a problem is to worry about money.”
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Galvin said employees who took advantage of their sick days when they weren’t really sick would find they fell short when they needed them.
“My employees know that if I take care of them, they will take care of me,” he said. “If they are transparent with me then it shouldn’t come down to only having one sick day left.
However, he said the law change meant that he would have to have more cash in reserve in the bank in case multiple employees got sick at the same time.
Massimo Tolve, who employs about 10 people at Pizza Pomodoro in Wellington, said that in his 20 years in business he had had a positive experience with the staff, with most of them not even using their sick leave.
“I don’t think it’s worse for us,” he said. “It’s going to be more or less the same.”
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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern campaigned for the sick leave policy during the elections.
However, Alan McDonald, who is chief strategy officer at the Northern Inc Manufacturers and Employers Association, said the effect of 10 days of sick leave would drive up costs for all businesses when they could least afford it.
“It is not necessary and there is no problem, 2020 has brought exceptional circumstances,” he said.
