Cutting part time workers’ sick leave entitlements from the 10 days everyone currently gets to being pro-rated based on how much they work.
*** Also covid vaccines will apparently no longer be free for most people after this month.*** EDIT: this was circulating yesterday, but isn’t true so that’s good.
And this during the biggest covid wave in 18 months, where hospitals and schools are having to close or reduce capacity because so many staff are sick. What a bunch of ghouls.
Politics comes and goes. This article is talking about a change to how the statutory minimum if 10 days of sick leave is calculated, which may disadvantage some (but not all) part time workers. This 10 days is on top of the 31 (or is it 32 now) other days off for public holidays (in NZ everyone gets them, or a day in lieu, not just government workers) and annual leave.
The US has approximately 0 days of sick leave or other paid time off as a statutory minimum, if I understand correctly.
It’s probably best not to let news articles sway your judgement. With steps backwards, sometimes we forget all the steps forward. This applies to the US, too.
Well put. In a way you could argue that the current government is making changes that will make NZ more like the USA. That may or may not be true, but the implication is that we are currently less like the USA too.
So the things you like about NZ will still be there in some amount, just perhaps just a bit less than it would have been a few years ago. And as you say, governments come & go so in 3, 6, 9 years things can just as readily change the other way again anyway.
And yes its 11 national public holidays, plus 1 provincial public holiday, plus 20 days annual leave for 32 in total, then 10 days sick leave on top for 42 in total. It can get slightly complicated in terms of accruals & entitlements. NZ has a bunch of different leave that may or may not be foreign to a US citizen!:
12 Public holidays - must be taken on the day they happen, or if you can’t you get a day in lieu to take at your leisure. Usually you will want to ensure you use the lieu day before you use any of your annual leave entitlement as the former doesn’t get paid out to you when you cease employment.
Annual Leave - there’s two counts for this, from the date you start working for an employer you begin accruing an annual leave balance, and then 12 months later you become entitled to four weeks of annual leave, and your accrual balance starts again from 0. The difference matters as I think technically the employer only has to allow you to take entitled leave, not accrued; and conversely if they have a customary closedown period then there’s a bunch of different rules about what happens. Typically nowadays most employers (big corporates anyway) will see your annual leave accrual as a liability and will be encouraging you to use it so its pretty rare to have much of an argument about having leave. Both sides have to be reasonable in giving notice and rearranging things to covering when you’re not there.
Sick Leave - this is the 10 days that’s mentioned in this article, like Public holidays sick leave doesn’t get paid out when you leave, and unlike annual leave sick leave doesn’t continue to accrue. So it is each 12 month period of employment that you get a new up to 10 days per year sick leave. Some employers do accrue sick leave as well though - I think my balance caps out at something like 40 days, so good news if I ever get the big C or something I suppose!
Bereavement Leave - you get a minimum of 3 days per bereavement for funerals if its for people in your immediate family, or miscarriages and then there’s a bit of flexibility where you can have another 1 day per bereavement if they’re not immediate family but there’s some specific reasons why you gotta be there responsibility wise.
Parental Leave - im not as up with the play on this one, but its available for both parents, just to differing amounts I think.
Family Violence Leave - employees affected by family violence have the right to up to 10 days of paid leave per year, and can ask for a short term rearrangement of their work schedule.
Other Leave - there’s all sorts of other rules for Jury service, disasters, leave to go vote in an election and some employers have other stuff too like I worked somewhere where you got an extra 2 weeks a year if you represented NZ in a sport (even an obscure one) and were going to an international tournament.
You can accrue up to 20 days by law (two years worth). But employers don’t have to let you accrue any more.
We’ve had a lot of cancer in the family over the past few years, 40 days isn’t gonna be nearly enough I’m afraid.
Edit: oh and
While the wording is a bit funny, the entitlement can go to either parent (but not both). There is unpaid time off (up to a year) and there is paid parental leave (up to 26 weeks, proportionally replaces time off so you can only get 1 year total).
The entitlement is for the primary carer, and the other parent can get “partner’s leave” which is super shit, like 2 weeks unpaid. Everyone I’ve ever heard of has just taken annual leave.
No 40 days wouldn’t go far at all, but 8 weeks paid before having to chew into annual leave would still help ease the stresses a bit. Of course, im lucky to have that much.
Yeah for sure, 8 weeks is better than 4 weeks!
Well said.