Employees more concerned about job security, fair pay raise under new government

More than half of New Zealand employees are concerned about job security following new policies under the new government, according to a survey from the Council of Trade Unions (CTU).

The CTU's annual Mood of the Workforces survey revealed that 52.8% of 2,000 employees believe that the new government's policies will make job security "more difficult" over the next 12 months.

More than a quarter of employees (78.1%) also said the new policies will make it more difficult to get a fair pay raise from their employers.

"The feedback from this year's survey is that many people are worried about the future of their jobs and well-being of their families," said CTU president Richard Wagstaff in a statement.

"It's clear the rushed and backwards-looking repeal of employment legislation passed without consultation has signalled to working people that the government does not care about their interests or the interests of most New Zealanders."

90-day trials reinstated

Among the recent employment-related changes from the New Zealand government include the reinstatement of the controversial 90-day trials to all businesses in December.

The scheme gives employers the option to hire a new employee under a 90-day trial period, where they are allowed to dismiss them without providing reason or giving the employee a chance to comment before termination.

"But it is good practice to tell the employee why they are being dismissed," Employment New Zealand said on its website.

Wagstaff previously raised that allowing the reinstatement of 90-day trials for bigger employers will leave workers "vulnerable to exploitation."

The government, however, said the scheme would benefit workers who are just starting out, returning to the workforce, or looking to change careers.

Fair Pay Agreements repealed

Another controversial move from the new government is when it repealed the Fair Pay Agreements, despite a petition against the move signed by nearly 13,000 Kiwis.

The petition said with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, there has "never been a more important time for working people to be paid fairly."

But the government said the FPAs "do not help employees" and instead make it harder for businesses so they're "more hesitant to employ people."

The CTU's Mood of the Workforce survey revealed that 64.4% of employees don't feel they're being paid fairly for work - with 70.6% saying the government's recent policies will make it "more difficult" for them to meet the cost of living over the next 12 months.

"These concerns are held across all age and gender cohorts in the results and are consistent across union members and non-union members," Wagstaff said.

"Reading through the hundreds of comments it's clear that people want real change in New Zealand’s political and economic direction toward increased fairness and investment in people and their futures. That's something all parties, in government and opposition, need to listen to."