Employers may deduct 10% of partial strike participants' wages
The New Zealand Government has reinstated penalties for employees who participate in partial strikes in a bid to reduce disruption to the community.
The newly passed amendment to the Employment Relations Act grants employers the option to deduct 10% of strike participants' wages or reduce them by a proportionate amount.
The reduction should be based on the identified work that the employee did not perform due to the strike, according to the legislation and employees will also need to be informed via written notification that their pay will be cut before the deduction is made.
"Employers do not have to deduct pay in response to partial strikes – this simply provides an additional tool for how they can respond to a partial strike, if it works for them," the government said in a media release.
The penalty has been reinstated after the previous government removed pay deduction as an option for employers in 2018.
According to the government, a partial strike is an industrial action where employees turn up to work but refuse to carry out parts of the job.
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said the key benefit of the penalty reinstatement is less disruption to communities.
"Partial strikes had serious impacts on Kiwi families, students, patients, and other workers across our workplaces," the minister said in a statement.
Van Velden added that the change will help both employers and unions to return to the bargaining table and ensure a fairer bargaining process.
"These changes will help both employers and unions to return to the bargaining table and restore the law to what it was before the previous government removed this option in 2018," she said.
But the Public Service Association warned the change risks further escalation of strike actions and longer work stoppages.
"The new law is all about weakening the position of workers when involved in collective bargaining that becomes difficult to settle," said PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons in a statement.
Fitzsimons said a low-level strike action is a tool that workers use to air their concerns if negotiation and mediation fails.
"If the Government keeps raiding the toolkit as they are here, they actually risk opening the door to escalating strike action and longer stoppages when the only tool left is a sledgehammer," the PSA official added.
Van Velden said she acknowledges the right of workers to strike in support of their collective bargaining claims.
"The right to strike remains," she said. "The changes were needed to ensure a fairer bargaining process and minimise the disruption partial strikes have caused to public and customer services."
According to the government, unions who believe the employer has incorrectly applied a pay deduction may advise the employer of it after receiving information on how the specified pay cut was calculated, if relevant.
"The union can apply to the Employment Relations Authority, who can determine whether the employer has correctly applied the deduction," the government said.
