BusinessNZ turns down government offer on FPAs

They said it was 'not needed' and 'fundamentally flawed'

BY Dexter Tilo 11 Dec 2021

BusinessNZ has rejected the government's offer to be a part of the Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs), saying that "compulsory FPAs are unlawful under both current domestic and international employment laws." The FPA is a "legally-binding agreement that sets out minimum pay and conditions between employers and employees across an entire sector," Stuff said in a report.

But Kirk Hope, chief executive officer of BusinessNZ, said that the FPAs are not needed and are "fundamentally flawed."

"They aren't needed, they remove the flexibility and autonomy of modern workplaces and won't improve pay and conditions for hardworking Kiwis," Hope said. "We've told the Government from day one that FPAs are fundamentally flawed but they haven’t listened."

So, after a "thorough review" of the proposal, BusinessNZ has decided to turn down the government's offer, and by extension $250,000 in funding.

"We've formally refused the Government's offer. It's wrong for us to be part of a scheme that will do more harm than good to businesses and employees," Hope said. "Our role is to ensure policies are in place to deliver modern, smart, and flexible workplaces. FPAs don't do that."

BusinessNZ urged the government to "pause and reflect" and to work with them in order to come up with a "smarter and fairer" solution for all Kiwis.

"The Government needs to scrap FPAs and introduce what its officials recommended - improve and strengthen the current system to achieve better workplace relations."