1. Amanda Reilly Annick Masselot
Precarious Work and Work-Family Reconciliation: Options for Law Reforms
NZLLS conference
27 November 2015
Victoria University of Wellington Law School

3. Who are precarious workers?
New Zealand’s precarious workers are found across a range of legal arrangements
Various forms of non- standard work
But even workers in standard employment may experience high levels of insecurity and limited access to legal rights
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions estimates that at least 30% of New Zealand’s workforce is in insecure work
Precarious workers are found in different sectors with different requirements.
Eg contrast scheduling challenges of seasonal workers in agriculture with on-call casual work in hospitality.

4. Distribution of non-standard work in NZ Workforce Structure
Source: Statistics New Zealand, Survey of Working Life (December 2012)

5. Who are precarious workers?
Precarious workers are not a homogenous group with identical work family reconciliation challenges
Different pressures over a life cycle
Childcare v. Eldercare
Gender
Ethnicity
Māori
Pasifika
Refugees and new immigrants

6. If we were to generalise the following are likely to create work family reconciliation challenges for precarious workers…
Overwork- too many hours & no ability to say no
Insufficient hours
Unpredictable and irregular hours
Flexibility for employers but none for workers

7. Working Time Regulation
There is little direct regulation of working time and that which there is under enforced and not available to all workers.
Maximum working hours provision in s11B of the Minimum Wages Act prevents an employer from fixing working hours above 40 hours a week unless agreed by the parties
No requirement for minimum hours
“zero hours bill”
Right to request flexibility
not restricted to family reasons
Is mostly token, maximum penalty of $2000 for non compliance with process, no case law

8. Unions New Zealand has voluntary union membership
1 in 5 workers in New Zealand is covered by a Collective Employment Agreement
Union membership is declining.
However unions remain key in:
Negotiating working time provisions into collective agreements
Litigation
Influencing public debate and policy.

9. Unions initiatives Collective bargaining / litigation/ Advocacy
UNITE recently succeed in
Getting all major fast food restaurants chains + Skycity to agree to no zero hours in collective contract
Getting public support for legislative intervention on zero hours.
Port of Auckland Industrial dispute
FIRST Union – New Zealand Bank / Bunnings
Litigation (Service and Food Workers Union): Idea Services Limited v. Dickson

10. Options for Law Reform
Regulate minimum and maximum hours and notice of hours requirements
Extend scope of employee related protections to other categories of worker
“Casual loading”/require employers to pay a premium for irregular scheduling practices.
Strengthen right to request flexibility provision
Strengthen enforcement and penalties for non-compliance
Support unions- extension bargaining.