Big changes for staff and employers today

Posted by Andrew on April 1, 2016

Today, 1st April 2016, sees a large number of changes becoming law. Many of these will have an impact on staff and their employers.

Changes from today include:

• Zero hour contracts are now illegal;
• The minimum wage increases to $15.25 per hour;
• Paid Parental Leave increases to 18 weeks;
• Childcare assistance packages increase;
• Benefits increase for Families with Children

Then on Monday 4th April, the new Health and Safety at Work act comes into force, the biggest change in workplace Health and Safety in a generation. The key points to this are:

• Employers and those with control over what happens in a workplace, must take reasonably practicable steps to keep staff and visitors to their workplaces safe. 
• There is a clear requirement for everybody - staff, managers, directors, visitors - to be responsible for their own safety and to report anything unsafe. This means staff, properly trained, must abide by the Health and Safety training and policies for a workplace.