Lack of resourcing and capacity has meant the Government often lacks proactive measures to get ahead of workplace relations and safety issues, acting instead as an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff. We believe that an industry-led approach to lifting employment standards and tackling exploitative working conditions is the best way to achieve this.
Much of the Government’s work over recent years needlessly recreated industry-designed and funded programmes, instead of partnering with industry leaders to expand these programmes. A key priority for our industry is to address perception issues by lifting employment standards and tackling exploitative working conditions. While we welcome efforts to increase transparency and awareness of employment standards within the hospitality and tourism sectors – we believe that these changes should be led by the industry itself.
Priority 1: industry-led approach to lift employment standards
We believe an industry-led approach to lifting employment standards is the best way to achieve optimal workplace relations and safety.
The Restaurant Association believes the Government should partner with industry to invest in and expand successful industry-led programmes before recreating the wheel. Our hospitality accreditation scheme, HospoCred, has a driving purpose to create a platform for standards within the hospitality industry. Businesses must have displayed a commitment to best practices, increasing their impact and ultimately committed to the ongoing development of themselves, their business and their team.
Through investment and expansion in this scheme, a clearer picture for consumers, businesses and current and prospective employees is created. This would make it easier for businesses to lift their employment standards and understand what it means to be a responsible and transparent hospitality business.
Priority 2: removing or simplifying red-tape
While we recognise the importance of legislation in our sector, the regulatory framework for hospitality is fractured and confusing.
Collaboration with industry in addressing this challenge is crucial to ensuring compliance through a better understanding of regulations. The Restaurant Association believes that changes should be made to legislation that will ease the regulatory burden on our businesses. These changes include amendments to the:
- Holidays Act 2003 to pro-rata the provision of sick leave for part-time employees.
- Shop Trading Hours Act 1990 to standardise rules regarding Easter Sunday trading.
- Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 to require consideration of overseas registration, certification or relevant experience for manager’s certificate applicants (subpart 7) and to simplify the process for renewing a venue license (subpart 3)
- Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Fees) Regulations 2013 to better reflect the responsible supply regulations for on-licence venues, and the proportion of harm caused by on-licence venues compared to off-licenses.
- Employment Relations Act 2000 to address the extensive case law requirements that have developed regarding abandonment of employment agreements.
Priority 3: use of the industry as a collective force to prevent worker exploitation
We advocate for the Government to support industry-led initiatives, such as HospoCred, as a collective force to prevent worker exploitation.
A primary goal of the Restaurant Association is to address perception issues within the hospitality industry by lifting employment standards and tackling exploitative working conditions. A positive narrative around Hospitality is essential for the sector to grow and contribute effectively to the economy. The hospitality industry holds many sustainable and rewarding career choices, presented by a range of exceptional employers committed to ethical practices.
We recognise that worker exploitation is a problem in New Zealand and we are strongly against it. The Government should invest in and expand our HospoCred scheme to use the collective force of good employers to prevent exploitation. HospoCred would promote the employers committed to fair and ethical employment practices. This approach not only safeguards the workers but also strengthens the industry’s reputation and contribution to the economy.
Get involved
If you’d like to get involved in our advocacy work, one of the best things you can do is to reach out to your local Member of Parliament or councilor to help bolster our efforts.
We’ve created a template here that you can use to get in touch with your local politicians, which includes space for you to personalise and include your own story. Tailor it as you’d like, then address and email it to your local MP.
You can find out who your local MP is here, or get in touch with our team at info@restaurantnz.co.nz if you’d like some help!