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A business group has questioned whether workers need a law change to guarantee meal breaks and breastfeeding opportunities for working mothers.
Labour Minister Trevor Mallard and Cabinet colleague Maryan Street yesterday announced proposals to amend the Employment Relations Act.
As well as minimum meal and refreshment breaks the amendments would give women the right to breastfeed their babies at work and employers would need to provide facilities and breaks for breastfeeding where reasonable and practical.
Shift workers would also be permitted to transfer their public holidays to another day.
Business NZ chief executive Phil O'Reilly said employers were in favour of adequate meal and rest breaks and provision for breastfeeding mothers but he had not seen any evidence that required a new law.
"This is a very uncontroversial matter - in thousands of workplaces across the country employers and employees make sensible agreements in their mutual interests without having written rules," he said.
Inflexible rules advantaged unions, not employees or workplaces, he said.
"We are keen on evidence-based law, because without evidence of actual problems there is the danger of getting prescriptive rules that make things worse."
The Government should do research to see if a problem existed, he said.
Mr O'Reilly welcomed the move to allow shift workers to transfer public holidays but said the laws were over-prescriptive.
The Council of Trade Unions welcomed the changes to the act. "Time and access to facilities will be a welcome step for breastfeeding mums at work, and brings New Zealand into line with 92 other countries." said secretary Carol Beaumont.
- NZPA
