As a key focus of the 100-day plan, the New Zealand Parliament today formally passed legislation to the Employment Relations (Probationary Period) Amendment, allowing all employers to fully reinstate the 90-day probationary period.
Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Brooke van Velden, said: "Around 72 per cent of New Zealand's workforce is employed by businesses with 20 or more employees and there is a strong call for a resumption of the 90-day probationary period. ”
She says by making it easier for all businesses to recruit new staff without the risk of an expensive dismissal process, more New Zealanders will find satisfying jobs.
The policy, which was first introduced during the National Party's rule, allowed businesses to dismiss employees without cause within 90 days, but when the Labour-Priority coalition came to power, it was amended to "apply only to businesses with 19 or fewer employees".
However, according to a 2016 study commissioned by the Ministry of Finance, there is no evidence that "a 90-day probationary period significantly increases hiring by companies" and that it does not help job seekers in the long run.
It is worth mentioning that, according to the information released earlier by the Immigration Bureau, migrant workers holding a certified employer work permit are not affected by this regulation, and employers still cannot dismiss a certified employer work permit holder without cause within 90 days.
01 USCIS suspends the salary adjustment of employer-certified work permits
Today, Immigration New Zealand issued a notice to suspend the adjustment of the salary requirements for employer-certified work permit AEWV.
USCIS was originally scheduled to raise the AEWV salary requirement to $31 in February 202461 to match the latest New Zealand median salary.
According to the announcement issued today,The wage requirement for AEWV workers will remain at the current $29 per hour66
New median wage scale ($31 per hour.)61) It will still apply to visas such as skilled migration and parent reunification, and will be implemented from February 2024.
USCIS said the suspension was due to a commitment to remove the salary requirement threshold for this category and give USCIS time to make an updated decision on AEWV salary requirements.
Updates on the future median salary setting for AEWV will be announced at a later date.
02 New Zealand Prime Minister visited Australia in a whirlwind manner
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has returned to New Zealand from Sydney after visiting Australia yesterday.
Luxon said yesterday that "New Zealanders are the best immigrants in Australia", and also said that the relationship between the two countries is "very close to my heart", mentioning that he has worked in Sydney for five years, his son was born in Australia, and his daughter now lives and works there.
During the visit, the two sides discussed two major events - New Zealand will "explore" the non-nuclear part of the AUKUS of the Australian-British-American security alliance, and the 501 expulsion regulations.
On the AUKUS issue, New Zealand has always been "willing" or "open to exploration", but this time Luxon's wording is more tough, hoping that New Zealand will take on the "heavy responsibility" in Australia's defense alliance and explore what New Zealand can gain from technology sharing if it joins the non-nuclear part of AUKUS.
Some scholars believe that this move could embroil New Zealand in the Sino-US dispute in the Pacific.
In February, the Defence Ministers of Singapore and Australia will meet, followed by a meeting between the Ministers of Defence and Climate Change.
In terms of the 501 eviction policy, both sides expressed their willingness to continue to promote a "more common sense" implementation approach.
But the recent deportation of a 57-year-old man to New Zealand has added a touch of embarrassment to the cheerful atmosphere.
When asked about the incident, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would not comment on individual cases.
I would say that Australia's position is to take a common-sense approach to these issues, and I think that will help improve relations with New Zealand. ”
New Zealand's foreign minister, Winston Peters, said it was a big mistake, while Luxon took a softer tone.
This person doesn't have any long-term ties with New Zealand, so that's why I brought this issue up to the Prime Minister, and we respect that Australia has its own policy on deportation, but we also respect that they have taken a big step forward. ”
Next year, Luxon will be invited to participate in the ASEAN Conference in Melbourne.