Everyone who works in Aotearoa New Zealand deserves a fair and clear process for personal grievances, secure employment conditions and access to their union.

But if the government’s Employment Relations Amendment Bill passes, it will strip our rights away.

Submissions on the Bill close at 2pm on Wednesday 13th of August. Read on to find out what the Bill threatens, and how to make a submission to oppose it.

What is the Employment Relations Amendment Bill, and why does it matter?

This Government has shown itself time and again to be on the side of big business and against regular working people, most notably with the scrapping of pay equity.

The Employment Relations Amendment Bill is another example of this. This Bill would make major changes to our employment law, especially on contracting and on allowing workers to challenge unfair treatment from their boss through the personal grievance process.

This Bill will give even more power to the bosses and undermine the rights of workers. It would:

• Make it more difficult for workers to use the personal grievance process if they have been unfairly treated or dismissed, by putting more weight on anything they may have done that could have ‘contributed’ to the situation.
• Allow bosses to lock workers into the position of ‘contractor’ and its associated reduced benefits and protections, rather than ‘employee’, regardless of whether this accurately describes their working relationship.
• Lay pathways for employers being able to fire workers without cause and limiting workers’ access to justice.
• Further reduce the access of workers to unions by removing the obligation to place new employees on the terms and conditions of an existing collective agreement for the first 30 days of their employment, undermining union and worker voice in democratic workplaces.
• Make the employment conditions of precarious and marginalised workers even more precarious – especially for Māori and Pasifika, women, migrant, youth, and disabled workers.

Under the guise of improving competition and cutting red tape, this Government is attacking the rights of workers to stand up for their own rights and be supported by a union, reinforcing the control employers hold over the lives and livelihoods of their employees.

Let the Government know how important this issue is to you by making a submission against it. The Bill is open for Select Committee submissions until 2pm on Wednesday August 13^th.

Tips:

• Your own words and point of view are enough. Your submission can be as long or as short as you like – it can just be a sentence saying you oppose the Bill.

• Try to use your own words as much as possible and tell the Government to abandon the Bill.

• If you want to go into more detail, below is a basic structure your submission could follow, and we’ve linked more information below.
  

1. Start your submission 

I oppose the Employment Relations Amendment Bill] and urge the Select Committee and Government to abandon this Bill. 

2. Make your recommendation  

Tell the Select Committee why you OPPOSE the Bill. We recommend putting this in your own words.

You can start by saying who you are, what you do (for example “I am a parent, I am a teacher…”), and what is important to you as a worker in Aotearoa. Equity? Fair treatment and protection from discrimination? Being able to raise problems with your employer without fearing the consequences?

Then you could say for example:  

• The Employment Relations Amendment Bill is unfair, unbalanced and takes us further away from a worker friendly environment.
• The Bill takes away employees’ access to justice, fair process, and remedies for unfair employer actions. It opens the door to the possibility of employers firing workers without cause. This is not conducive to healthy workplace environments where employees are supported.
• The Employment Relations Amendment Bill’s changes to personal grievance rules will discourage workers from participating in their workplaces, and from raising issues with their employers that could be resolved through fair and reasonable processes.
• The Bill makes it almost impossible for workers to receive any compensation for unjustified dismissal if their employer claims the employee contributed in any way to the circumstances of their dismissal.
  • This means that any action or inaction, however minor, can be used to strip a worker of any compensation or the possibility of getting their job back. This places immense pressure on those involved in disciplinary processes and limits employees’ ability to make honest mistakes and grow in their roles.
• The Bill further takes away workers’ access to unions by removing the obligation for new employees whose workplaces are already part of a collective agreement to be placed on the terms of that collective agreement for their first 30 days. This will make it easier for employers to take advantage of new employees by imposing lesser terms or 90-day trial periods.
• The Bill hands employers the ability to permanently label a worker as a contractor (rather than an employee) by restricting the courts’ ability to investigate whether this is an accurate way to describe their working situation.
  • This would strip these workers of many statutory entitlements and protections, including sick, annual, and bereavement leave, and access to the personal grievance process if they are discriminated against or harassed.
  • A main example of a group that this would directly negatively impact are Uber drivers (and other similar platform workers), who will be defined as contractors, benefiting only the massive corporation employing them.
• These changes will undoubtedly have the heaviest impact on vulnerable workers and those in precarious work, and in particular Māori, Pasifika, youth, immigrant, and women workers, and those with disabilities.

3. Explain further (optional)

1. Draw on your own experience as a worker in Aotearoa.

   There is no right or wrong way to structure your answer.

4. Conclude

Recommendations for changes you want the Select Committee to make. “I/We recommend abandoning the Bill.”

• • e.g., “In light of the shortfalls and failings outlined above, I recommend the Select Committee abandon the Employment Relations Amendment Bill.”

You can get more information on the Bill from:

Public Service Association: Push back against the Fire at Will bill.

Council of Trade Unions: Submission guide | Employment Relations Amendment Bill 2025 - NZCTU.

E tū Union: Worst employment law changes in a generation will lock in exploitation, says E tū - E tū.