Tens of thousands of Kiwi workers sacked

Brian from New Lynn

Government research conducted by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) shows more than 20,000 Kiwi workers have been sacked while on trial periods – a 49 per cent increase in three years.
"This research shows us that people who are employed on trial periods are being increasingly treated as disposable,” CTU President, Richard Wagstaff said. “Working people need fairer laws to protect them from this type of employment practice. The Government needs to act to ensure that working Kiwis are being treated fairly and removing trial periods from the law would ensure that employers were not able to treat working people as being a disposable resource." The MBIE research showed 80,070 employers used trial periods during the year, but Wagstaff suspected many more Kiwi workers were on trial. The research showed that 20,300 employers dismissed an employee during or at the end of the trial period: “But once again we suspect many more Kiwi workers have been sacked by their employers,” Wagstaff said. The figures are up from 2014 and 15 when the figures were 57,600 and 13,600 respectively. "Trial periods are unfair and unnecessarily. We need to make our employment laws fairer for all Kiwis - removing trial periods from law is urgently needed," Wagstaff said.
After May 6, only businesses with fewer than 20 employees will be able to use the 90-day trial period.
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