9. DARIEN FENTON (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Labour
Will the Government support the Employment Relations (Statutory Minimum Redundancy Entitlements) Amendment Bill to select committee so that New Zealand workers and business can have their say on the adequacy of current redundancy laws?
What then does she have to say to warehouse supervisor Rod Highsted, who is one of about a dozen workers at TA Macalister laid off this week without any redundancy payment after 20 years’ service?
Hon KATE WILKINSON Link to this
For anybody who loses his or her job, it can be a very upsetting experience. I certainly sympathise with them. That is why our Government has made sure we are taking every step we can to get the economy growing again and help laid-off workers into new jobs.
What does she have to say to Annie, an information technology worker who emailed me this week, who was made redundant just before Christmas without redundancy pay and who has lost her house, all of her savings, and practically all of her furniture because she had nothing to tide her over while she looked for another job?
Hon KATE WILKINSON Link to this
I repeat what I said in my previous answer, but redundancies are never nice. People are losing jobs, small-business owners are losing their livelihood and often their homes, and adding more rules and regulations to this does not make it any fairer.
What does she have to say to Telecom engineers such as Jonathan Smith who were made redundant through no fault of their own in the middle of one of New Zealand’s highest periods of unemployment, with no redundancy pay to help them get through the hard times until they found more work?