Employment law reforms announced

The Government has introduced a new bill to amend the Employment Relations Act 2000.

The proposals focus on two key areas: employee rights and union rights. While the proposal includes some new initiatives, a significant number of the changes are a roll-back of changes enacted by the previous government.

The proposed major changes for employee rights include:

• Restriction of the 90 day trial period. Only employers with less than 20 employees would be able rely on the use of trial periods. Probationary periods would remain available to larger employers. However, unlike trial periods, dismissals in reliance on probationary periods allow employees to raise claims for unjustified dismissal.