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.
Second this - right now we are expecting business to
significantly increase wages (minimum wage more than doubled while inflation was ~29%
recover from covid
build up financial reserves due to significant chance of recession
add on about an extra 3% in annual wages to cover leave
invest significantly in sustainability
while fighting staff shortages.
Something is going to give
Yeah, it’s not a good time right now. Definitely once we’re out of recession though.
I wouldn’t say wait until after the recession, because others are right its never a good time. What it needs is to be a part of a greater package and goal, not an ad-hoc vote gatherer at the cost of employers and inflation.
Stop the focus on the 3 year election, and look at the longer issues our country faces and how developing these longer term goals can lead to a better working environment and reduced costs of living - an incredibly difficult task considering in the global scale our country is little more than a large suburb in a major city and we have little choice but to go with the flow.