Employers likely to use trial period

Wednesday 22nd December 2010 2 Comments

Half of employers surveyed by the Employers & Manufacturers Association have decided to use the 90-day trial periods when they become available in April and 8% have decided not to. The others are still considering their options.

Under the Employment Relations Amendment Act passed by Parliament this year from April 1, 2011, the 90-day trial period provisions will be available to every employer.

The survey also showed that 17% of employers were definitely planning to hire staff next year and 35% say they probably will. Just 11% definitely or probably will be looking at making people redundant.

Last year 51% of respondents reported they gave a zero wage increase whereas this year only 11% did not increase wages.

Overall, wage increases are well down from previous years. Collective bargaining settlements averaged 2.1%.

There has been a shift from one year collective agreements to two years as companies tried to remove the threat of strike action in Rugby World Cup year.

NZPA

Comments from our readers

On 22 December 2010 at 4:59 pm antoni said:

For me, it will depend on where the staff have come from. If I expect them to leave current employment, is it reasonable not to give them some certainty? If they are coming from a benefit, they wont have any problem taking a 90 day trial.

On 23 December 2010 at 8:59 am Peter Poeschl said:

What does "use the 90-day trial period" exactly mean? Have those employers already decided to fire staff they are going to hire next year?