Open letter to the New Zealand Government
Below is an ‘open letter’ sent recently by CrestClean to the Government, to try and effect change of poorly worded legislation affecting New Zealand businesses.April 2012
Dear Government,
We appreciate everything that you’re doing to move this great country forward. It’s not an easy task, and we know that lifting the productivity of New Zealand is equally as challenging. That’s why we wanted to write to you and say we wanted to help play our part.
We may be just a medium-sized company that started out in Dunedin, but we have great aspirations for New Zealanders. Hence, we’re now working closely with NZ Trade & Enterprise to expand our business into offshore markets like India, Singapore and Malaysia.
We like to think that we can contribute to moving New Zealand forward. You may not know this, but the commercial cleaning industry is worth over $1 billion and employs over 30,000 people across the country.
While our work is mostly done after closing hours, international research has found that proper cleaning reduces absenteeism, and reducing absenteeism increases productivity and ultimately profitability.
Not only that, but the workforce gains from improved health and safety, businesses reputations are improved, and a clean working environment reduces the issue of ‘Presenteeism’ – when staff are sick but still at work.
CrestClean and many other businesses and employees have a problem that only you can solve, and that is Part 6A of the Employment Relations Act 2000.
To cut a long story short, Part 6A is not working for either employees or employers and fails in one of its main objectives – to provide meaningful protection to the most vulnerable employees. It also creates vulnerable businesses by removing their ability to control their own workforce, therefore limiting productivity and innovation.
Part 6A forces businesses to employ workers who elect to transfer from a previous employer to a new employer on the same terms and conditions as their previous employer. It’s a right mess.
There are court cases in the Employment Court where Judges are struggling to make decisions due to the confusing nature of Part 6A.
If the Government really wants to help struggling businesses then one solution is the repeal of Part 6A of this Act. It would make a world of difference to our business, as well as the hundreds of other businesses (and importantly the employees) that find themselves in a pickle because of this poorly worded legislation.
CrestClean wants New Zealand to be competitive, more productive and to succeed. But occasionally we need a little bit of help.
We look forward to your response.
Kind regards
Grant McLauchlan,
Managing Director
CrestClean
