Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The government has been forced back to the drawing board on changes to holiday pay after feedback that its initial plan could make problems worse.
Thousands of employers have had to pay, or are still arranging to pay, billions of dollars in back pay due to problems with applying the act for years.
Consultation for the reforms went out earlier this year.
Speaking in Auckland on Friday, Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden says feedback indicates the draft Bill is not going to solve the issues of the Act
"Not only have I heard from submitters that further simplification is possible, but there were some who believed that what we put out for consultation was more complex and had higher compliance costs than the legislation we have now.
"I want to get this right, and I have always said that this consultation would be genuine. It has become clear that a fundamental change is required to give employers and employees the simplicity and certainty they have been calling for."
Van Velden said she has asked officials to begin work on an hours-based accrual model for annual leave.
"While shifting to hours-based accrual may require drafting a fundamentally different Bill, I believe investing the time and effort to do this will deliver superior improvements to both employers and employees."
She said she was still set on passing a new Act by the end of this term.
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