Contracting out of personal grievances sensible

Excluding higher paid employees from personal grievances makes sense, says BusinessNZ.

A private member’s bill proposes that employees on salary packages over $150,000 should be able to contract out of the personal grievance provisions of the Employment Relations Act.

The bill, promoted by National’s Paul Goldsmith, would mean a higher paid worker would have to use the civil court to challenge a wrongful dismissal.

BusinessNZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly said currently a senior employee on a fixed term contract whose contract was terminated would be paid out the remainder of the contract, sometimes a large amount, and would also be free to take a personal grievance – which could be seen as excessive.

“Excluding higher paid employees from personal grievances would help focus employment law provisions on those who had most need of employment protection, and would help reduce the number of personal grievance cases clogging up the legal system.”