It was great to see this sign when I popped into Astoria Cafe in Wellington earlier today. Good on them for making sure that their employees have the chance to go out and vote. Not everyone knows that there are legal requirements for employers to give employees time to go and vote if they are working on election day.
The relevant bit of the law is S162 of the Electoral Act. The guts is that if a person has not had a reasonable opportunity to vote before starting work the employer has to let them go from 3pm for that purpose, and they can not deduct their pay. If they have to be there after 3pm, reasonable arrangements should be made for the employee to be able to take the time to vote. Most employers are aware of this, and are flexible, but its important people know their rights. And the right to vote is one not to be messed with.
Also worth noting that advance voting is available around the country over the next few days if for any reason you are not going to be able to get to the polls on Saturday. The details are here, just click on your electorate.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6020875/Thousands-cast-early-votes
Given the hours that the polling stations are open, and opportunity for people to vote in advance, I can’t see why we need a law which obliges employers to give staff time off with pay to go and vote.
Are they able to require evidence from the employee that they have in fact voted before handing over the pay for the paid time they’ve been given off to vote?
OG, sometimes giving staff an hour off (for a cost of $13.50) does more for morale than the loss of productivity.
That may be true.
Until I read this posting I didn’t know of the provision which Grant mentions, and just question the need for it in this day and age.
Seems about as necessary as separate seats based on race…
I can remember when voting days on a Saturday disrupted no working day, other than dairies and petrol stations. It’s only once every 3 years and it is for democracy…
Bet if you’d been a kiwi in 1860 you’d have wanted separate seats base don race
“Not everyone knows that there are legal requirements for employers to give employees time to go and vote if they are working on election day.”
!!!!!
Hypothetical question, of course, but I don’t think so.
I can’t see what anything based on (part of) a person’s racial background has to do with democracy.
In South Africa they used to call it apartheid, and it became to be seen as evil and unsustainable by most people of both the right and the left.
OG, perhaps you need to read some NZ history. The country we live in today was built on the back of “preferntial” and exclusionary representation by colour/race. Now that the numbers have reversed those from the former preferential group think that idea is wrong. Kind of convenient. You understand that “democracy” was imnposed and then enforced (with exclusion on voting to certain groups) in this country in 1840, the majority never actually got a say in a voting booth?
In about 40 years the dominant group, apparently will be from the Asian region.
Remember the Maori seats had less influence on our country over the last three years than the party with less than 3% of the popular vote (ACT).
Tracey – things move on.
That seems to be a difficult concept for those of the Left to grasp at the moment.