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| F&B Magazine More nutty legislation coming When will the nutty legislation stop? The latest piece of legislative lunacy is the Flexible Hours Bill which has now been reported back from the Select Committee. The hospitality industry already provides one of the most flexible working environments with jobs and hours to suit from full time to part time. The obvious requirement however is that hospitality operators need to have staff when they have customers. Within that constraint most employers in the current employment market look to see how they can accommodate flexible arrangements which meet the needs of the business and also the needs of their staff. The Flexible Hours Bill as reported back is a bureaucratic nightmare with a large number of steps required to be taken if an employee is unhappy with their employer’s refusal of a request for more flexible hours. This starts with an investigation by a labour inspector, further mediation and then there is the potential for legal steps all the way to the Supreme Court. To have the Supreme Court determine on an employee’s unsuccessful request for flexible hours is extraordinarily heavy handed. Don’t forget that this will have occurred sometime after the employer and employee had reached a mutually acceptable agreement about working conditions, including hours of work. This heavy handed approach will not change workplace practice. It does however have the potential to be totally ignored except where the relationship between the employee and employer is poor and simply becomes another reason for a personal grievance and a pay out. This bill which will now be debated in Parliament is a Green Party Private Members Bill which is being supported by Labour. This is an opportunity for the other political parties in Parliament to demonstrate there is some sanity left among our legislators and vote no, ensuring the Bill goes to the shredder where it rightfully belongs. Bruce H Robertson |
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