The Green Party has announced that it wants to increase annual leave to five weeks.
Co-leader Marama Davidson told a crowd at a E Tū election launch in Māngere today that it would provide organisations with plenty of notice and ensure the full five weeks is available for everyone by the end of 2025.
This wouldn’t make NZ an unusual outlier globally, though perhaps it would be in this hemisphere - and that could be an attractive aspect as we continue to lose talent to Australia.
I’d like to see them carve out an exception for businesses that opt for a 32-hour 4-day week - either one works towards a better work-life balance and a 4-day week is a lot more personal days than just one week extra. Providing an exception for 4-day week businesses would avoid slowing uptake of the 4-day model for businesses that can make it work. The question is, how to balance the exception and leave changes for non-full-time employees?
Can NZ afford it? How many businesses are too fragile from the recent years of challenging operation. I suspect many can afford this, and that some have been pocketing the rewards of improved revenues in this inflationary environment without readily passing on those rewards. There could be more businesses struggling than we’d hope, that are too fragile from the challenges of recent years to wear the new costs.
Then again, maybe some negative impact is worthwhile for the improvement to the portion of the workforce that lacks the negotiating position to get such a deal - some executives and upper management certainly do enjoy such arrangements, including reduced days on massive salaries.
As an employee I like it.
The time is never right. Making change always causes a bit of pain in the short time. That is not a reason to not try and improve our country.
As a business owner I support this.
What would be great if the parties in power put these kind of policies in place when they had the opportunity rather than when the are clearly going to lose the election.
All this ‘we can’t afford it’ happened when we went from 3 weeks to 4 weeks annual leave 20 odd years ago.
And when sick leave came in.
And when the weekend came in.
Every improvement to workers’ rights gets met with the same outcry. We’d still be in workhouses if we listened to it.
You typically make those changes when the economy is doing well though, not in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
I’d certainly like an extra week of annual leave, but cost of living is a far bigger concern to me right now.
Mate, if you’re concerned about the cost of living you should be worried about National prepared to dump over $15 billion onto the housing market through tax cuts geared at the upper end, landlord incentives and reintroducing foreign buyers. At the same time they’re wanting to put through other changes that will restrict new supply. Prices are going to absolutely explode again.
I honestly don’t know how these types of changes track against the prevailing economic state, and it suspect it doesn’t really matter - every rise to the minimum wage, every increase in entitlements gets the same response.
You could probably go check out the Parliament hansard records from 2007 when annual leave when from 3 weeks to 4 and find the exact same arguments.
You seem to be a very angry person.
What seemed angry to you about that?
Just the fact that you show up in every thread ready to argue with anyone and everyone. It must be exhausting being you.
Not OP but generally people are arguing against ideas not people.
You must be new here, this guy has shown up in every single vaguely political post over the last few days primed and ready to go.
I mostly argue with you to be honest, which means you’re also in every thread. Not sure why you keep going for personal attacks though