Fair Pay Agreements legislation passed

The new Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022 worked its way quickly through the House and comes into effect on 1 December 2022.

 

The government’s objective is to provide a framework for collective bargaining of pay agreements. It stated that the legislation will improve employment conditions by enabling employers and employees to bargain collectively (by occupation, for example), rather than on an individual basis.

 

The Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, the Hon Michael Wood said, “By increasing bargaining coordination to agree minimum employment terms within a sector, outcomes for vulnerable employees will be improved and we will see growth in the incomes of New Zealand employees. This is especially the case for Māori, Pacific peoples, young people and people with disabilities who are over-represented in occupations which will benefit from a Fair Pay Agreement.”

 

As we noted in the Winter 2022 edition of Fineprint, the provisions in this legislation have been welcomed positively by unions although not so warmly by many employers.

 

If you would like help in any pay negotiations, please don’t hesitate to be in touch.

 

Some plastic products now banned

Since 1 October 2022 it became illegal to provide, sell or manufacture the following plastic products in New Zealand:

• Single use plastic drink stirrers
• Single use plastic cotton buds
• Degradable plastics such as oxo and photo degradable (such as some dog poo bags)
• Certain PVC food trays and containers
• Polystyrene takeaway food and beverage packaging, and
• Expanded polystyrene food and beverage packaging.

These new regulations may affect the way you do business. To find out more, go to www.environment.govt.nz and search for ‘plastic phase outs’ and scroll to the end page.

 

 

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Copyright, NZ LAW Limited, 2022.     Editor: Adrienne Olsen.       E-mail: [email protected].       Ph: 029 286 3650