Election 2011: Small businesses' battlefield

Labour leader Phil Goff and Mana candidate Chris Faafoi. Photo / APN

Industrial relations has emerged as an important political battlefield this election, as both major parties have lurched in opposite directions - National towards business and Labour towards workers.

Youth unemployment is also a constant theme in the campaign, given the unprecedented level of youth unemployment this year - 23.4 per cent in the September quarter, compared with an overall unemployment rate of 6.6 per cent.

National is trying to frame the debate on how to help small-to medium-sized businesses, while Labour says the most important issue is giving people a decent living wage.

National made a number of employer-friendly changes last year, including extending the 90-day trial for new workers to all businesses.

It now proposes new workers be able to sign up to individual agreements immediately, rather than taking a union agreement for 30 days, and removing the "duty to conclude" obligation for collective bargaining.

Currently, employers and unions that have entered into negotiations have a duty to reach agreement unless there are genuine reasons not to. Removing this would be business-friendly, but open to abuse if businesses wanted to stall negotiations, or floor them completely.

National would also review the rules around constructive dismissal and allow employers to dock the pay of staff who undertook partial strikes.

But National was given a rebuke by a survey of 1300 small-to-large businesses last week, where only about a third believed the Government had a sound economic plan.

Labour wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and introduce industry-wide standards and a new Workplace Commission to set these standards if employers and unions can't agree.

Labour's policies would push up the bills for businesses - who should focus more on innovation to drive productivity.

The Greens are unlikely to push workplace policies - preferring to concentrate on Green jobs, clean rivers and child poverty - but Act could make youth rates the subject of post-election talks.

Act believes that abolishing youth rates in 2008 priced young people out of the labour market.