Source: Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand
Transporting New Zealand is backing a proposed law change that could make it easier for freight companies to part ways with unsafe drivers.
If enacted, the Employment Relations (Termination of Employment by Agreement) Amendment would enable employers to initiate protected conversations for the purpose of ending an employment agreement by settlement.
Under the Bill, an employee would have to agree to have the conversation and cannot be coerced into signing anything. Simply having the discussion is not, on its own, grounds for a personal grievance claim.
“The current employment dispute resolution process in New Zealand is marked by costly delays, says chief executive Dom Kalasih.
“In high-risk industries like freight transport, we cannot afford to wait when it comes to dismissing a hazardous driver.”
He says terminations are rare in the industry and usually occur for exceptional reasons, such as drug use, repeated speeding or logbook breaches.
“This is a public safety issue,” Kalasih says.
The advocacy group cited examples from members who have faced long, costly processes to dismiss drivers who have failed drug tests or showed up to work impaired.
“This Bill provides a way to avoid unnecessary delays and expenses associated with working through the entire process, when the ultimate result is the same – termination of employment.”
Speaking to the Education and Workforce select committee on Wednesday, Kalasih said the current framework imposes unreasonable costs and delays on employers and employees alike.
Currently, parties are waiting up to three months to have their cases mediated by MBIE before it can even progress to the Employment Relations Authority. The vast majority of cases are already resolved by financial settlement.
The industry association is satisfied that the protections in the Bill and the voluntary nature of protected negotiations are adequate safeguards against abuse of the framework by bad-faith employers.
Kalasih says similar legislation has been in place in the UK since 2013 and has been running smoothly there.
“Transporting New Zealand does not condone workplace bullying or non-compliance with the law,” Kalasih says.
“The Bill must ensure that employees are given adequate time to seek independent advice and that any pre-termination negotiations can still be used as evidence if they have involved coercion, discrimination or dishonesty.”
About Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand
Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand is the peak national membership association representing the road freight transport industry. Our members operate urban, rural and inter-regional commercial freight transport services throughout the country.
Road is the dominant freight mode in New Zealand, transporting 92.8% of the freight task on a tonnage basis, and 75.1% on a tonne-km basis. The road freight transport industry employs over 34,000 people across more than 4700 businesses, with an annual turnover of $6 billion.
