BusinessNZ is backing planned changes to employment law, saying current rules create unnecessary confusion for new employees and impose extra compliance on businesses.

Currently, businesses are required to employ new staff under the terms of a collective agreement for their first 30 days—regardless of whether they wish to join a union.

Only after that period can an individual agreement take effect. Employers are also obliged to provide union membership information, which BusinessNZ says is leading to confusion, with some new staff mistakenly believing they’ve already joined a union.

BusinessNZ Chief Executive Katherine Rich said the rules are out of step with modern workplaces.

“Whatever a new employee chooses to negotiate—collective agreement or individual agreement—should be respected immediately, not after 30 days,” she said.

“There should also be sensible limits on the requirements for businesses to notify complex union options to new staff members. These requirements benefit union membership while imposing unnecessary compliance on productive workplaces.”

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden confirmed the Government will repeal the 30-day rule and reduce related employer obligations introduced by the previous government.

“Currently, if a collective agreement is in place, the employee’s individual agreement must reflect its terms for the first 30 days, regardless of their union membership,” van Velden said.

“Not only is the status quo convoluted and confusing, it adds another administrative cost on top of many others, and those costs are dragging down workplace productivity.”

She said the changes will give employees the freedom to negotiate terms from day one and allow a wider range of agreements to be offered immediately.

A further benefit is the ability for employers to offer 90-day trial periods from the start of employment if an individual agreement is chosen—something van Velden said was a key commitment of the ACT-National coalition.

“Expanding the availability of 90-day trials supports workers who may struggle to gain employment and gives employers greater confidence when hiring.”

The Government is also reviewing how union membership details are communicated to new employees, aiming to reduce the compliance burden on businesses.