Unions have reacted angrily to a Government decision to allow workers to cash in their fourth week of holidays.
Council of Trade Unions President Helen Kelly said the changes, which included an alteration to how different types of leave were calculated and the option of taking public holidays on alternate days, would leave workers worse off with less holidays and reduced leave pay.
"The calculation of holiday entitlements is a technical issue. The risk ... is that by making changes to the formula that look like mere simplifications, actual entitlements can be dramatically reduced."
Workers whose hours increased during the year would be worse off, she said.
Another change was that sick leave be changed from the current five-day entitlement to one based on hours (e.g. 40 hours per year).
"This looks simple enough but would reduce sick leave days to workers that work part-time or longer shifts than eight hours (as they would use more than one day's sick leave equivalent if they were sick for more than eight hours).
"The risk is that because this is a technical issue, the Government makes changes that workers only understand when they run out of sick leave and holidays unexpectedly."
Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson told the Sunday Star-Times safeguards would prevent workers being forced to take cash instead of holidays.
"This is about choice for that one week of the four weeks," she said.
Employers would not be allowed to raise the cash-in at job interviews, for example.
She said the changes were needed because the system was too confusing and the courts even struggled with employment cases.
"We are not reducing entitlements. We think the new formula for relevant daily pay will be easier to calculate. We also think it will be fairer to employees and employers and prevent the gaming of relevant daily pay calculations."
