Select Committee Says "No" to 90-Day Bill
A select committee report on the highly publicised '90-day bill' (the
Employment Relations (Probationary Employment) Amendment Bill) was
presented on 27 October 2006 and the committee recommended by a majority
vote that the bill not proceed. However, the bill is scheduled to have
its second reading debate in Parliament later this month or early December
and the bills proponent Dr Wayne Mapp has promised changes before then
which he believes will make it more appealing.
This bill, if enacted, will allow employers and new employees to agree
to a probationary period of up to and including 90 days. During
this probationary period employees would have none of the protections
afforded by the Employment Relations Act 2000 (the "Act").
The majority of the committee said they would like to see more done
to promote the awareness and the effective utilisation of section 67
of the Act for the benefit of both employers and employees. This
section states that probationary arrangements must be set out in writing
in the employment agreement. However, the law relating to unjustified
dismissal, still applies to probationary employees.
The select committee expressed concern about lawyers and advocates
who conduct a "no win, no fee" representation for personal
grievance claims. Labour Minister, Ruth Dyson has also been reported
as sharing this concern that these advocates often threaten employers
with legal action in order to get a quick payout. The Department
of Labour has formed a 'workstream' to look at the law around dismissal.
If you need any advice on how a probationary period clause should
be drafted, or advice on how to dismiss an employee during their probationary
period, please do not hesitate to contact us.
For more information, please contact:
Erin Davies
Partner
t: +64 9 979 2177
m: +64 29 622 2300
e: Erin Davies
Last updated: 15 November 2006
This article is intended to be brief in nature and should be used for information only. It should not be relied on as legal advice. |
