An evaluation of employment protection legislation in New Zealand.

Much debate and a growing body of research have been generated over the concern for potential incompatibility of Employment Protection Legislation (EPL) with labour market flexibility. The central question is whether or not excessively strict employment protection legislation contributes to a reduction in labour market performance as some studies suggest. Survey data from 27 OECD countries and 10 Latin American Countries from the early 1980's through to the late 1990's is evaluated to assess labour market effects in general and then New Zealand's employment legislation is evaluated against international indices. The data suggests that the strictness of employment protection legislation has a strong association with demographic composition of employment and unemployment but appears not to effect overall unemployment. Noted is also a general liberalisation of regular employment for temporary employment over the past ten years. While some countries have liberalised major components of their employment protection legislation, some specific components appear to have been tightened. The evidence suggests that employment protection legislation tends to increase self-employment and lower turnover rates in the labour market. More specifically is the value of Employment legislation and its enforcement in relation to unjustified dismissals. EPL supports unjustifiable dismissals and influences court interpretation in a limited fashion. Case law lays the foundation of employment law in New Zealand and influences court decisions to a greater extent. Remedies awarded for unjustifiable dismissals do not appear to compensate an employee for the loss of work and do not appear to be on a case-by-case basis but appear capped by previous remedies awarded.UnpublishedAdell, B., (1993) Workplace Disciplinary rules and procedures in Canada, International Review, Vol 132, No. 5-6. Anderson, G., (1988) The Origins and Development of the Personal Grievance Jurisdiction in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, vol 13, 257- 275. Anderson, G, (2001), The Individual and the Employment Relations Act, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations 26(1): 103-118. Anderman, S., (1997), The Law of Unfair Dismissal. Butterworth and Co, London. Akerlof, G. A., (1984), An Economic Theorist's Book of Tales, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York, Sydney, Melbourne. Annecy Symposium, (2001), The Future of Work, Employment and Social Protection. International Labour Review, Vol. 140 (2001), No. 4: 453-474 Bamberger, P.A., Donahue, L. H., (1999) Employee Discharge and Reinstatement: Moral Hazards and Mixed Consequences Of Last Chance Agreements, Industrial Relations Review, and Vol.53. No1 pp.3-20. Bemmels, B., (1991), Attribution Theory and Discipline Arbitration, Industrial and Labour Relations Review, Vol.44, NO.3 Benson, J., (!995), Future Employment and the Internal Labour Market, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 33:4 December, pp 603-608. Bergstrom, 0., (2002), Contingent Employment In Europe and the U.S. Does Regulation Matter? IIRA 6th European Congress. http://www.iira2001.org/proceedings/ws5_147,htm Betcherman G., Luinstra, A., Ogawa, M., (2001), Labour Market Regulation: International Experience in Promoting Employment and Social Protection, Social Protection Discussion Paper Series, No.0128, Human Development Network, The World Bank. Bertola, G., Boeri, T., and Cazes, S., (1999), Employment Protection and labor market adjustment in some OECD countries: Evolving institutions and variable enforcement, International Labour Organization Publication Bertola, 0., Boeri, T., and Cazes, S., (2000), Employment Protection in Industrialized Countries: The Case for New Indicators. The International Labour Review, Vol. 139, No. 1:57-72. Blain, N., Goodman, J., and Loewenberg, J., (1987) Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration. An International Comparison of Australia, Great Britain and United States. International LabourReview, Vol.126, No.2 March-April, pp179-198. Blanchflower, D., Burgess,S., (1996), Job Creation and Job Destruction in Great Britain in the 1980s. Industrial and Labour Relation Review, Vol. 50, No.] pp16-37. Blanchard, 0., (1998) Employment Protection and Unemployment, Prepared for Lecture Econ 2410d Department of Economics MTI Block,R, N., Beck, J,. Olson, A., (1996), A Look at Grievance Mediation, Dispute Resolution Journal October: 55-61. Boon. B., (1992) Remedies for Unjustifiable Dismissal under the Labour Relations Act 1987. New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 17 (1), 101-107. Boon, B., (1992) Procedural Fairness and Unjustified Dismissal Decision, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, 17(3):301-317. Boullie, L., Jones, J., Goldblatt, V., (1998) Mediation: Principles, Process, Practice. Butterworths, Wellinton. Boxall, P.,(2001), Evaluating Continuity and Change in the Employment Relations Act 2000, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, 26:27-44. Brosnan, P & Walsh, P. (1996a) Non-Standard Employment in Australia and New Zealand: Preliminary Results from a Comparative Study, in R Fells and T. Todd (eds), Current Research in Industrial Relations: Proceedings of the 10 th AIRAANZ conference, AIRAANZ, pp. 78-87. Brosnan, P. & Walsh, P. (1996b) Plus ca change the Employment Contracts Act and non standard employment in New Zealand, 1991 - 1995, Working Paper 4/96, Paper presented at the 7th biennial Labor, Employment and Work Conference, Victoria University, November 28-29. Callister, P., (1997) Trends in employee Tenure, Turnover and Work Scheduling Patterns: A Review of the Empirical Research Evidence, New Zealand Department of Labor Occasional Paper Series 1997/1, Department of Labor Te Tani Mahi. Cappelli, P., (1995), Rethinking Employment. British Journal of industrial Relations, 33:4 December, pp 563-602 Carnevale, J.D., Pegnetter, R.,(1985), The Selection of mediation tactics in Public Sector Disputes: A Contingency Approach, Journal of Social Issues, vol. 41, no. 2:65-81. CCH New Zealand Employment Law Library Commentary and Cases, (2001) Vol 1 Churchman, P., (1997) Avoiding the Rigor of the Personal Grievance Provisions of the Employment Contract Act. New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations 22(2): 171-187 Collins (1990) Justice in Dismissal: The law of termination of Employment, Claredon Press, Oxford, Dumbleton A., (2001), The Employment Relations Authority Gets Under Way, New Zealand Journal of industrial relations, 26(1): 119-130. Dumbleton, A (2000) The Employment Tribunal – Four Years On, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Rclations, 21(1): 21- 33. Department of Labour (2003), ERA Info: The Report on Employment Relations In New Zealand, http://www.ers.dol.govt.nz Earnshaw, J., Marchington, M., Goodman, J.,(2000), Unfair to whom? Discipline and Dismissal in Small Establishments, Industrial Relations Journal 31:1 pp 62-73. Employment Contract Act 1991, Government Press, New Zealand. Epstein, R.A, (1996), Employment Law, Courts and Contracts, New Zealand Business Round Table. Faber H. S., (1995), Are Lifetime Jobs Disappearing? Jo Duration in The United States: 1973- I 993. Working Paper No. 5014, National Bureau of Economic Research. USA. Fallick B., (1996) A Review of the Recent Empirical Literature on Displaced Workers, Industrial and Labour Relations Review, Vol. 50, No.1. pp 5-15 Freyer, L., (1997) Unjustifiable dismissals: Procedural Fairness and the Employer New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations. Freeman, R.B., (2000) Singled Peaked vs Diversified Capitalism: The Relationship between Economic Institutions and Outcomes, Working Paper 7556, National Bureau of Economic Research. Freeman R. B., (1992) Labor Market Institutions and Policies: Help or Hindrance to Economic Development, Proceeding of the World Bank Annual Conference on Development Economics Feuille, P., (1979), Selected Benefits and Costs of Compulsory Arbitration. Industrial and Labour Relations Review, vol, 33, no.1:64-75. Gardiner, R., (1993), Personal Grievance Mediation in the Employment, New Zealand Journal of ndustrial Relations. 1 8(3): 342-351. Genre, A., (1992) Dismissal Cases 1990- 1991, New Zealand Journal Of Industrial Relations, Vol. 17:109-117. Genre .A (1993), The Proposed Employment Relations Act, New Zealand Journal Of Industrial Relations, Vol. 18 (2):194-204. Genre, A., (1999), Full Circle? The Continuing Saga of Redundancy Legislation, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations Vol. 24(1): 75-82. Genre, A. J., (2001) The Employment Contracts Act 1991-2000: A Decade of Change, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol 26 (3): 287-306. Gerhart, P,F., Droting J,E. (1980), Dispute Settlement and the Intensity of Mediation, Industrial Relations, Vol. 19,no.3.,:352-359. Glyn, A., Salverda, W., (2000), Does Wage Flexibility Really Create Jobs? Challenge Jan/Feb, Vol. 43, Issue 1: 32-43. Grenig, J .E., (1991), The Dismissal of Employees in the United States._ International Labour Review. Vol. 130, 1991, No. 5-6. Gregg, P., Knight, G., Wadsworth, J., (2000), Heaven Knows I am Miserable Now: Job Security in the British Labor Market, The Insecure Workforce Heery, E., Salmon, J., (ed) Routledge Studies in Employment, London and New York, pp39-56. Greene, B., (2000) Independent Contractors: An Attractive Option? New Zealand Journal of Industrial relations, Vol. 25(2): 183-204. Goddard,T.G., Mediation of Employment Disputes, Employment Law Bulletin, pp 47-51 Goddard, T.G. The Employment Court: Structure and Directions, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, 20 (I ): 5-20. Grubb, D., Wells, W., (1993), Employment Regulation and work Patterns of Work in EC Countries, OECD Economic Studies Winter, p7-52. Harbridge, R., (1993) Employment Contracts: New Zealand Experiences, Victoria University Press, Wellington. Harbdridge, R Kiely P (1998) Redundancy: Trends in Compensation. New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relation , 20 (30): 302-312. Heery, E., Salmon, J., (ed) (2000) The Insecure Workforce Routledge Studies in Employment Relations, London, New York Hince, K., (1993), From William Pember Reeves to William Francis Birch: From Conciliation to Contracts. Ed Raymond Harbridge, Employment Contracts: New Zealand Experiences, Victoria University Press, Wellington. (1993:7-12) Heckman J., Pages,C., (2000), The Cost of Job Security Regulation: Evidence from Latin America Labor Markets. National Bureau of Economic Research, Working paper 7773 , http://www.nber.org/papers/w7773 Herzog, H., W., (1996) Job-Loss and Labor Market Outcomes under Rapid Structural Adjustment: The Case for New Zealand, Labor Market Bulletin vol.1:19-44. Hogbin, G, (2002), Employment Protection Laws and Worker Welfare, http://www.hrnicolls.com.au/nicholls/nichvo23/hogbin20002.html Howells, J.M., Cathro, S. H, (1986) Mediation in New Zealand, The Attitudes of the Mediated. Dun more Press Limited Houseman, S., (2001), Why Employers use Flexible Staffing Arrangements: Evidence from a Survey, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol 55, No.1 pp148-169. Hughes. J., (1992), Institutions and Grievance Handling. The Employment Contracts Act. One Year on, Victoria University of Wellington. Hughes, J ., The Employment Court after the Industrial Relations Package. New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, 24(1): 21-45 Hughes, J., ( 1990), Labour Law in New Zealand, The Law Book Company Ltd. New Zealand, Canada and USA. Ichniowski C., Shaw, K., Prennushi, G., (1995), The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity. Working Paper 5333, National Bureau of Economic Research. Cambridge. Karim , A., Stone, T. (1986), Mediation Outcomes and Sources of Impasse, Journal of Labour Research vol. 8: 309-319. Kelly, D. (1993), Researching Industrial Relations: Methods and Methodology. Monograph 6, Australian Centre for Industrial Research and Teaching (ACIRRT) Kiely, P., (1994), Discrimination and Human Rights: On Overview of Remedies, New Zealand Industrial Relations, 18 (3) : 326-375. Kochan, T.A., Jick, T. (1978), The Public Sector Mediation Process, A Theory and Empirical Examination. Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol.22, no.2 June. Kolb, D., M. (1983), The Mediators, The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts. Knight, K.G., Latreille, P.L., (2000) Discipline, Dismissals and Complaints to Employment Tribunals, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol.38:4 December, pp.533-555. Knight, K.G., Latreille, P.L., (2001), Gender Effects in British Unfair Dismissal Tribunal Hearings, Industrial and Labour Relations' Review, Vol 54. No.4, pp 817-834. Komiyo, F., (1991), Law of Dismissal and Employment Practices in Japan. Industrial Relations Journal Vol. 22: 59-66 Kressel, K., Pruitt, D.G., (1985), Themes in the Mediation of Social Conflict, Journal Of Social Issues, vol, 41, no.2:179-198. Latreille, P. L., and Knight, K.G., (2000) Discipline, Dismissals and Complaints to Employment Tribunals, British Journal of Industrial Relations. 38:4 December, pp. 533- 555. Lindauer, D.L.,(1999) Labor Market Reforms and the Poor, Harvard Institute for International Development. Wellesley College. Labour Relations Act 1987, Government Press, New Zealand. Labour and Employment Gazette, (1987), Vol, 37, Nol, pp: 41-45, March Lissak, R. 1., Sheppard, B., (1983), Beyond Fairness:The Criterion Problem in Research on Dispute Intervention , Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp 45-65. Lazear, E. P., (1990) Job Security Provisions and Employment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, August , pp 699-726. Marazza, M., Sanctions Against Unlawful Dismissals, http://www.aidlas.org/pontignano/pnot98_4.html Mack, R.W, Snyder, R.C., (1957), The Analysis of Social Conflict - Toward an Overview and Synthesis. Conflict Resolution vol 1,no. 2:213-24. McAndrew, 1 (1999), Adjudication in the Employment Tribunal: Some Facts and Figures on Caseload, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol.24, Issue 3, pp 365-382. Mc Andrew, I (2000), Adjudication in the Employment Tribunal, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol 25, no.3 p. McCallum, R., Mc Carry, G., Ronfeldt (1994), Employment Security, The Federation Press, Australia Milner, S., (1995), Where Do We Go From Here, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 33: December pp. 609-615. Moore, C.W., (1987), _The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict, Jossey -Bass Publishers. London, San Francisco. Morgan, J., (2001) Comments on 'Summary Indicators of Product Market Regulation with Extension to Employment Protection Legislation', by Guiseppe Nicoletti, Stefano Scarpetta and Olivier Boylaud . OECD Economics Working Papers No. 26. . http://www.worldbank.org/sp. Nicoletti, G., Scarpetta, S., Boylaud, 0. (2000) Summary Indicator Product Market Regulation with an Extension to Employment Protection Legislation. ECO/WKP(99)18 OECD. OECD, (I 994a), The Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development, Job Study, Evidence and Explanations,. Part 1, Evidence and Explanations. Part 1 Labour Market Trends and Underlying Forces of Change. Unemployment in the OECD area, 1950-1995. OECD Publications, France OECD, (1994b), The Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development, Job Study, Evidence and Explanations_Part 11 The Adjustment Potential of the Labour Market. Unemployment in the OECD area, 1950-1995. OECD Publications, France OECD (1994 ), Societies in Transition, The Future of work and Leisure, OECD Publications, France OECD (1996) Employment adjustment, workers and unemployment. Employment Outlook Chapter Five, pp161-184. OECD (2002), Employment Protection and Labour Market Performance. Employment Outlook , Chapter Two. OECD (1997) Is job insecurity on the increase in OECD countries? Employment Outlook, Chapter 5. OECD News Release (1999). Employment Protection Legislation, http://wwwl.oecd.org/media/release/nw99-76a.htm Pinkley, R.L. (1990), Dimensions of Conflict Frame: Disputant Interpretations of Conflict, Journal Of Applied Psychology, vol.75, No. 2:117-12. Pondy, L.R., (1967), Organisational Conflict: Concepts and Models. Administrative Science Quarterly Vol 12, no.2:296-320. Pruitt, D., (1983), Strategic Choice in Negotiations, American Behavioural Scientist 27 no.2:167-194. Rawls, J., (1999) A Theory of Justice (revised ed) Oxford University Press, Great Britain. Richardson, 5, (ED) (1999), Reshaping The labour Market, Regulation, Efficiency and Equalit y in Australia. Cambridge University Press. Melbourne Report of the Department of Labour, Te Tari Mahi, for the year ending June 1991. Report of the Department of Labour, Te Tari Mahi, for the year ending June 1992 Report of the Department of Labour, Te Tari Mahi, for the year ending June 1993 Report of the Department of Labour, Te Tani Mahi, for the year ending June 1994 Report of the Department of Labour, Te Tari Mahi, for the year ending June 1995 Report of the Department of Labour, Te Tari Mahi, for the year ending June 1996 Report of the Department of Labour, Te Tari Mahi, for the year ending June 1997 Report of the Department of Labour, Te Tad Mahi,for the year ending June 1998 Report of the Department of Labour, Te Tari Mahi, for the year ending June 1999 Report of the Department of Labour, Te Tad Mahi, for the year ending June 2000 Report of the Department of Labour, Te Tad Mahi, for the year ending June 2001 Riboud, M., Sanchez-Paramo, S., Silva-Jauregui, C., (2002), Does Eurosclerois Matter? Institutional Reform and Labor Market Performance in Central Eastern Countries in the 1990s. World Bank Technical Paper 519. Washington DC. Robinson, P., (2000), Insecurity and the Flexible Workforce, The Insecure Workforce Heery, E., Salmon, J., (ed) Routledge Studies in Employment, London and New York, pp25-38. Roth, P., (2001) Symposium: Employment Relations Act, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations Feb, vol. 26, no. 1:1 Roth, P (2000), International Labour Organisation Conventions 87 and 98 and Employment Relations Act, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations 26 (2):145-169. Ryan, R., (1992), Flexibility in the New Zealand Workplaces: A Study of Northern Employers. New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, 17(2):129-147. Schmidt, S.M, Kochan, T.A, (1972), Conflict: Toward Conceptual Clarity, Administrative Science Quarterly, 17:359-370. Sims , E., (1995) Judicial Decisions Concerning Dismissals: Some Recent Cases. International Labour Review. Vol. 134, No. 6 Sen Gupta, A. K., Sett, P.K., (2000) Industrial Relations Law, Employment Security and Collective Bargaining in India: Myths Realities and Hopes. Industrial Relations Journal 31:2 pp 144-153 Shapiro, D.L., Brett, J.M.,(1993) Comparing Three Process Underlying Judgements of Procedural Justice: A Field Study of Mediation and Arbitration. Journal Of' Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 65 no.6: 1167-1177. Sheppard, B. H., (1984) Third Party Conflict Intervention: A Procedural Framework, Research in. Organisational Behaviour_ vol.6:141-190. Sheppard, B. H, Lissak, R. I.,(1983), Beyond Fairness: The Criterion Problem in Research on Dispute, Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Vol 13:2 pp 45-65. Szakats, A., Mulgan,M. A., (1985), Dismissal and Redundancy Procedures, Butterworths Ltd., Wellington. Szakats, A., Mulgan,M. A., (1990), Dismissal and Redundancy Procedures, Butterworths Ltd., Wellington. Szakats, A., (1991) Supplement to Dismissals and Redundancy Procedures (2 nd Ed) Butterworths Ltd., Wellington Szakats, A., (1988), Law of Employment, Butterworths Ltd. Wellington. Taylor, R., (2000), Employers Inhibited by Lack of Flexibility, Financial Times; London; March 31, page 6. Thibaut, J., Walker, L., (1975), Procedural Justice: A Psychological Analysis, Erlbaum, Hillsdale,UK Thibaut, J., Walker, L., LaTour, S., Houlden, P., (1974) Procedural Justice as Fairness, Stanford Law Review, Vol. 26:1271-1291. TUAC, OECD (2002) Employment Protection Legislation Does Not Hamper Productivity. http://www.tuac.org Wailes, N., The Case against Specialist Jurisdiction for Labour Law: The Philosophical Assumptions of a Common Law for Labour Relation, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations ,VI 19 (1): 1-15. Wall,J.A. Lynn, A., (1993), Mediation A Current review, Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 37, no. 1:160-194, March. Walsh, P., Ryan, R.(1993) The Making Of the Employments Contract Act. Ed Raymond Harbridge, Employment Contracts: New Zealand Experiences, Victoria University Press, Wellington. Walton R.E., Dutton, J.M., (1969), The Management of Interdepartmental Conflict: A Model and Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 14:73-84. Walton, R.E., McKersie, R.B.,(1965), A Behavioural Theory of Labor Negotiations, Sage Publications, Beverley Hills. Wilkinson, B.,(1992), Protection of Part-time workers in Irish Law, Industrial Relations Journal Vol. No, pp 120-129. Upex, R., 1983, Termination of Employment: the legal and financial implication. Sweet & Maxwell, Londo