A 10,000-name petition calling for an increase in sick leave entitlements has been presented to Parliament.
The petition was handed over to minister for workplace relations, Andrew Little, outside Parliament today. Photo: RNZ / Yvette McCullough
Workplace Relations Minister Andrew Little received the petition, which was handed over by a small contingent of people who work in essential services in a mock giant tissue box.
It calls for an extension of the Covid-19 Leave Support Scheme for the next year, and for paid sick leave to increase to a minimum of 10 days.
Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said the requirement to stay home if you are unwell was impossible to follow with just five days leave.
"We need more sick leave. We need people to be able to get it from the day they start work; they need more per year, they need 10 days a year; they need to be able to look after their dependants; we need to get rid of the doctor's certificate.
"I really hope that the next government and the political parties leading into the election can support this petition", Wagstaff said.
Little said sick leave entitlement was an important conversation for Parliament to be having.
He said Covid-19 had shown how vital the essential workforce was, but it had also exposed shortcomings in some employment arrangements.
"I think it is timely to now ask questions about do our laws go far enough, do those basic minimum protections for workers in the face of a health crisis go far enough? This petition does that so it will be fertile ground for Parliament to consider," he said.
Little said the Labour Party would announce its policy on sick leave in the coming weeks.
Green MP Jan Logie was also there to receive the petition. Her party has already pushed for sick leave to increase to a minimum of 10 days.
She said research showed that one third of New Zealanders were going to work sick because they did not have enough leave.
"That's costing businesses, because other people get sick when people go to work sick but we get to see now in the light of Covid that it is costing us as a country and putting us all at risk and we need to do something about it."
