90-day bill passes first test under heavy fire:NZ Parliament

National met an Opposition in full attack mode during debates over the introduction of a 90-day probationary period for new workers.

Labour - which draws many of its MPs from trade union ranks and strongly opposes the measure - stacked its benches with its senior MPs for the first reading of the bill in Parliament yesterday.

The bill will allow businesses with fewer than 20 staff members to put new workers on probation for their first 90 days of work. They can be dismissed without having recourse to a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal.

It will come into effect next April and was an unexpected addition to the raft of measures included in the law changes National is pushing through under urgency before Christmas.

Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson said the bill would encourage employers to give new workers, including the long-term unemployed, young people and others who struggled to get work, a chance.

"Currently there are no provisions for trial periods in our existing employment legislation. In fact, we are one of the few countries internationally that do not have a trial period for employees."

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[MidnightCardinal]

Fair and balanced? Hahaha that sounds like fox news :)