Holiday buy back threatens workplace & family wellbeing

National’s plan allowing employers to buy back workers’ holidays undermines workplace productivity and threatens the wellbeing of workers and their families.

“At this time of recession many employees will opt to take a payout for their fourth week of leave,” Green Party Industrial Relations Spokesperson Sue Bradford said today.

“For a lot of workers it will be very hard to actively hang on to the fourth week when they are offered the choice of an extra week’s pay.

“While the Government talks about the holiday buy back as a matter of choice, in many cases the economic imperative will rule, and a lot of employees will end up back with three weeks’ leave again.

“Even with four weeks leave, New Zealand lags behind other OECD countries, ranking 14th out of 21 countries.

“One in five New Zealanders already work more than 50 hours a week. To have annual holidays reduced back to three weeks will put us way behind.

“The Green Party supported the 2007 shift to four weeks holiday for all as employees are much healthier and happier if they have more time off, and workplace productivity improves at the same time.

Now National’s holiday buy back plan has the potential to undermine that vital gain for workers, Ms Bradford said.

“Children benefit hugely when parents can take more time off during school holiday periods.

“I also fear the pressure this move will place on relationships between partners when one or both are presented with the three week option. They then have to try and sort out what is best for the family, choosing between relieving financial pressure and having badly needed time off for rest and recreation.

“The Green Party will oppose the buy back every step of the way, while continuing to push for a much needed rise in the minimum wage as a better way of relieving the financial pressure on low income workers.”

Leave Trading: The Pitfalls for workers (The Age) http://www.mbs.edu/home/jgans/papers/Age-Entitlements-05-09-26.pdf

Open All Hours (New Zealand Listener article) http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3496/features/8767/open_all_hours.html

A comparison of leave and holiday in OECD countries http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/lwp/papers/No_Holidays.pdf