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03 March 2011
Holidays Amendment Bill Submissions
Fill in this form to make a submission to Parliament.
Please note: If you have previously filled in a form on our website this form may auto-fill. Please make sure your information is sitting in the right boxes.
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Please read the following statement carefully, and tick the box underneath if you agree.
To the members of the Transport and Industrial Relations Selection
Committee:
I am opposed to the Holidays Amendment Bill, and in particular to the
proposed amendment to section 68(1A) of the Holidays Act.
The amendment would allow employers to require their staff to provide
medical certificates after only one day's sick leave. An employer
will no longer need to have "reasonable grounds" to suspect that
the sick leave being taken by the employee is not genuine before
requesting proof of sickness or injury.
I am concerned that this proposal will have implications for
children's health and welfare as well as for the rights of employees
and is unworkable, unnecessary and unfair.
In summary, the law:
- poses increased risks to children’s health and welfare and to
public health;
- may create more pressure and costs for the health system;
- is unnecessary and likely to have unintended negative
consequences.
1. The law is a risk to children's health and welfare and public
health
Parents who use their own sick leave to care for their children are
less likely to stay home with their children if they are required to
get a medical certificate for them, or if they feel that taking
leave may put their employment at risk. This could lead to more
ill children attending schools and ECE centres, creating public
health issues for staff and other children. People going to work
sick because they cannot get a doctor's appointment to get a
medical certificate because they cannot afford a doctor's visit
or because they simply feel their job would become more
insecure if they too sick leave would also increase risks to
other staff.
While the impact of the proposed law on vulnerable workers is
yet to be tested, what we know already is that 27% of New Zealand
children live in poverty and that we have appalling rates of
poverty-related diseases such as rheumatic fever - 14 times the
OECD average. Sending an ill child to their school or ECE centre
is unacceptable for the child and creates further health risks for
the other children and staff in the classroom or centre. The Ministry
of Health actively encourages people who are unwell to stay home
or keep unwell children away from school so this legislation would
undermine that message.
The Government says that by requiring the employer to pay for
the medical certificate unfair use of the proposed law would be
deterred. But it has also admitted that the proposed new provision
could be abused, for example, to pressure an unwanted employee
to resign. Any employee that did not produce a medical certificate
if required by their employer could be deemed in breach of their
employment agreement.
2. The law is likely to create increased pressure and more costs
for the health system
The law may divert doctors and other health personnel away from
front-line care into providing unnecessary medical certificates and
creating further administration for medical staff. While the rationale
for the law is to "reduce compliance costs for employers", this
proposal may simply shift costs to the health system.
Many families already find it difficult for themselves or their
children to access timely doctor's appointments. In some cases
such as with swine flu, doctors have actively encouraged less ill
patients not to visit surgeries because of the risk of the
spread of infection.
3.. The legislation is unnecessary
New Zealand law currently provides for 5 days sick leave a year
one of the lowest in the OECD. New Zealanders currently take
on average 4.6 days sick leave a year, compared with 7.4 days
in Britain and 8.6 sick days in Australia.
There is no empirical, independent evidence to show there is
a big problem here, or that Kiwis abuse sick days any more
than employees in other countries, or that rorting the system
is on the rise. On the contrary, neither the Ministry of Labour
the Department of Statistics nor the ACC even keep sick-day data.
This proposal is likely to have unintended and negative
consequences for children's health and welfare and public
health in general, and do nothing to address absenteeism
issues in the wider workforce. I therefore oppose the proposed
amendment to section 68(1A) of the Holidays Act.
I agree with this statement.
Please input your own comments (if any) here:
You can request to appear before the committee. Submissions are usually heard in public and are held in Wellington or in other main centres.
I would like to appear before the committee.
Thank you very much. We will pass your submission on to Parliament.
Please click 'Send' to submit.