BusinessNZ to assist employers ahead of FPA implementation

Members of the BusinessNZ Network have announced that they’re extending assistance to employers who’ll be affected by the incoming Fair Pay Agreements (FPA) legislation. The network includes BusinessNZ, the Employers and Manufacturers' Association (EMA), Business Central, Canterbury Employers' and Chamber of Commerce, and Business South.

"We have experienced legal and consulting teams who will provide their considerable expertise in centralised bargaining to our members in dealing with FPAs," EMA chief executive Brett O'Riley said.

According to O'Riley, they’re extending assistance to employers given that the network's members employ 65 to 70% of the country's workforce.

"Also, with the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) having the power to set the terms of an FPA if no employer is available, we feel we need to step back into this mess," O'Riley said. "The ERA consistently finds in favour of employees in more than 70% of hearings, so employers will have little faith in the ERA bargaining also from their corner."

The assistance comes ahead of the scheduled implementation of the FPAs legislation on Dec. 1, with the government yet to release its guidance for employers.

"The message to members is there is plenty of time to engage, nothing is likely to happen until next year, and we have the resources to help," O'Riley said.

The FPA law aims to bring together unions and employer associations to "bargain for minimum employment terms for all covered employees in an industry or occupation," according to Employment New Zealand.  However, business groups have been vocal in their opposition towards the FPAs, calling it "fundamentally flawed." The network said that despite offering employers assistance, they will "continue to oppose the compulsory, centralised wage bargaining system" introduced by the government.

"We have also been told the International Labour Organisation Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations will revisit this legislation at its next meeting in December 2022, now that it has been enacted and is coming into law on December 1," O'Riley said.

According to O’Riley, businesses saw "nothing but problems with the vaguely written legislation."

"[The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment] is still writing the regulations to support the legislation and there remains no process for confirming the initiation of these agreements or bringing together a bargaining party. Definitions, such as who makes up a sector group, are vague and there are privacy issues concerns as well," he said.