The New Zealand Government has just passed the Employment Relations Amendment Bill yesterday, with peak body Retail NZ saying it will provide flexibility for retailers.
Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young said several of the peak body’s recommendations were included in the final Bill.
"This legislation will provide clearer rules on personal grievance remedies, ensuring employees’ serious misconduct is not financially rewarded, and the removal of the 30‑day rule, which will give employers and workers the freedom to determine employment terms from the outset," Young said.
"The increase to the income threshold for the exemption from personal grievances for unjustified dismissal to $200,000, also ensures it will only apply to genuine high‑earners with significant bargaining power."
The reforms are expected to be particularly positive for small and under‑resourced retailers, who often shoulder disproportionately severe consequences when navigating complex employment procedures, Retail NZ noted.
"The new legislation helps rebalance this risk, offering clearer, more proportionate settings that support practical and effective management of workplace issues," Young said.
“Smaller retailers will benefit from a much‑needed reduction in compliance pressure, with clearer rules that allow them to focus on resolving problems early and managing their teams fairly, rather than navigating complex administrative steps.”
Ford Sumner Lawyers principal employment lawyer Paul Gillespie also weighed in, saying reforms will give retailers a clearer and more workable framework for managing employment relationships, enabling them to make commercial decisions with greater certainty.
“For example, where an employee’s behaviour meets the threshold for serious misconduct, compensatory remedies will no longer be available, keeping the employee accountable,” Gillespie said.
“Further, the removal of the 30‑day rule means that employers now have the flexibility to no longer offer new employees the same terms of employment as a collective employment agreement for that period.”