Max Whitehead: Employment law expert says plans to do away with rights to claim unjustified dismissal winding back of legal protections

The Government's plans to do away with high-earning workers rights to claim unjustified dismissal is copping flack from an employment lawyer.

Under the proposal, anyone making more than $180,000 a year will lose out on that current legal avenue if they lose their jobs.

Employment law expert Max Whitehead told Heather du Plessis-Allan this is an unfair winding back of employees' legal protections.

He asks who would want to be a senior manager right now — it's a tough world out there for the big timers in business.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So the governments announced the plans to stop wealthy workers
from raising an unjustified dismissal claim if they lose their jobs.
It will apply to workers who are earning one hundred
and eighty thousand dollars or more. And Max Whitehead is
an employment law experting with us. Now, Hey, Max, hey, Heather,
you like the sound of this?

Speaker 2 (00:15):
No, not at all. Well, I just think it's a
little bit Well, who would want to be a senior
manager right now? And who'd want to be in charge
of a ship? Because really, you're likely to cop one
only through this thing, you're going to lose all your
protection as an employee. And the next thing is that
you could be sued by under the Health and Safety
of Work Act. And just like the Ports of Auckland. Guy. So,

(00:37):
I mean, really, it's a tough world out there if
you are any if you're a big timer in a
business right now?

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Yeah, fair enough, I mean, okay, so you have this
right taken away from you, wouldn't you just write it
into your contract?

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Well, you'd have to negotiate it back in because most
employers would say, oh gotcha. If you want to get
this back into your contract, well, how about taking a
thirty thousand dollars pay cut or something like that, they
would probably be seeking to negotiate a lower salary option
for them.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
So what do you make of the argument that the
reason that the government has to do this is to
basically make it easier for bosses to be able to
get rid of useless middle managers.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Well, I think it shouldn't be only sitting at the
top that option to do that, I think is one
of Brook van Belden's colleagues put up a bill for
this is saying that the employers should be entitled to
negotiate with an employee and saying, look, I'd like to
buy your exit, so you're finishing up with us? Can

(01:39):
I do that? And then they sit down and have
a chin wag about it. Now, if if in the
last interview you've just done, somebody's been grossly negligent or
perhaps just incompetent, well then of course they have grounds
to dismiss and the law would enable that to go
through a process. And can people protect themselves from that?

(02:00):
They should in my view, I mean, murderers get the
right to defend themselves, and surely, surely somebody in this
situation could be as well.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
Max appreciate it, Max Whitehead Employment LAWIX.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
But for more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live
to news talks they'd be from four pm weekdays, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio