Teanau Tuiono is a Green list MP based in Manawatū. He is the party’s spokesman on workplace relations and safety. OPINION Everyone deserves good work, to work under fair conditions - and that means workers should have enough leave available to look after their health and wellbeing and live a meaningful, fulfilling life.

Those who are sick should be supported to stay at home and not spread sickness around workplaces. It sounds obvious, right? But really, it’s far from a given when we consider the way some employers treat their employees. A lot of workers feel pressure not to take sick leave for fear of ramifications like losing pay or even their job.

This is a widespread problem, and yet the Government has just decided to make it worse. Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden has announced plans to tinker with sick leave and annual leave entitlements under the guise of simplifying the Holidays Act. The proposal would have the impact of reducing sick leave for people who work part-time.

Coming after recent attacks on employees’ rights such as repealing Fair Pay Agreement legislation and cutting back on pay retention and recruitment for bus drivers, the planned change to sick leave is another example of how the coalition is both unapologetic and unequivocal in administering policies which make life harder for workers. Our economy has been built upon the backs of our workers, and stripping them of sick leave would be a slap in the face, reducing the.