Catherine Delahunty Green MP www.greens.org.nz

This week we revealed that workers dismissed under the 90-day law could be going without income for up to 13 weeks over Christmas because of unfair WINZ rules.

Under the 90-day trial employment legislation workers can be fired without warning, with no reason given, and with no recourse to normal employment protections.

As if that isn't bad enough, the Green Party has uncovered that if someone fired under the 90-day law applies for the Unemployment Benefit, WINZ staff can prevent them from getting it for up to 13 weeks – if they judge that the worker was dismissed for misconduct.
In other words, WINZ staff can withhold support based purely on the word of claimants' ex-employers. The employer has to provide proof, but there are no clear guidelines about what is sufficient proof of misconduct. In other words the WINZ staff member is the judge, jury, and executioner. There is huge potential for abuse, and WINZ staff are not trained to make these important judgment calls. Potentially all it would take is a malicious phone call from an employer to WINZ alleging misconduct, and an employee could be denied access to the safety net of the welfare system for over three months. These rules are in place now. Workers and their families already reeling from possibly unfair dismissals, may also be going without the essentials this Christmas because of them. And the number of people affected will skyrocket when the 90-day law comes into force for all workers in New Zealand.
All those with ethical standards would agree that employees should be given the opportunity to learn how and why their employment will be terminated during the 90-day trial period, rather than being told ‘sorry it's not working out'.

The rationale is that everyone has the opportunity to put their side forward under any negotiation or legal hearing, and employees simply don't have that opportunity under the 90-day trial period. You can't take a personal grievance. If we have to have the 90- day law, the safety net should be strengthened, not weakened, in recognition of the risk that more people will find themselves unexpectedly out of work without being able to access the normal protections.
Scrapping the 90-day law and treating workers fairly are on the Greens' Christmas wish-list of measures that would guarantee families the essentials, reduce the gap between the haves and the have-nots, and help to build a stronger community that's better for everyone.