ARTICLE · 19 SEPTEMBER 2008

Employment Relations

DLA Piper Australia

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The Employment Relations (Breaks and Infants Feeding) Amendment Act has received royal assent, not only introducing mandatory breaks for all employees but also controversially altering the KiwiSaver legislation under urgency without public consultation and as a change to this Amendment Act - the title and content of which is totally unrelated.

AustraliaEmployment and HR

Sean O’Sullivan

The Employment Relations (Breaks and Infants Feeding) Amendment Act has received royal assent, not only introducing mandatory breaks for all employees but also controversially altering the KiwiSaver legislation under urgency without public consultation and as a change to this Amendment Act - the title and content of which is totally unrelated. The changes and process used will be concerning for many.

The legislation states an employee's employment is adversely affected where, because the employee is a member of a KiwiSaver scheme or a complying superannuation fund, their salary or wages (defined as not including the employer compulsory contribution) is less than that of other employees in comparable roles. This change will have a significant impact on many existing remuneration structures. It means employers cannot now have a total remuneration approach which factors in compulsory employer contributions as part of an employee's remuneration package. The total

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