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MERAS
Bernard McIlhone
General Manager –
MERAS
Trial periods
Over the last six
years of the current
government
there has been a
number of changes
to employment
legislation. From
a perspective of
their impact on MERAS members who are
employed predominantly by DHBs, the
immediate effect has been limited. The
level of health sector funding continues
to be the greatest factor impacting on
midwives.
Despite this, these changes are starting
to have an effect with smaller, non-DHB
employers of midwives.
Recently a midwife of considerable
experience took on a role with one such
small midwifery employer. The names
of both have been withheld for privacy
reasons. She contacted me during the
period between Christmas and New Year
to say that she was a member of MERAS
and had been dismissed by her employer
with no justifiable reason, no adequate
discussion and nothing in writing.
On the face of it, this type of treatment
of a midwife shouldn’t happen and if the
employer was a DHB it would certainly
not be happening. The complication soon
emerged. The midwife concerned had been
employed for less than 90 days.
Back in 2010 the government changed
the Employment Relations Act in respect
to the 90-day rule to make it easier for
employers to dismiss employees without
recrimination.
What the act says is that an employment
agreement may contain provision for
a trial period of 90 days or less. A trial
provision means a written provision in an
employment agreement that states for a
specified period (not exceeding 90 days),
starting at the beginning of the employee's
employment, the employee is to serve
a trial period; and during that period the
employer may dismiss the employee; and
if the employer does so, the employee is
not entitled to bring a personal grievance
or other legal proceedings in respect of
the dismissal.
When an employee is dismissed under a
trial period, there is no fair process and no
requirement for the employer to provide
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justifiable substantive reasoning; however,
some limited grounds for challenging these
decisions have emerged as a result of a
variety of cases that have gone through
the courts:
• The appropriate trial period clause must
be in the employment agreement.
• The employment agreement must
be signed before the employee
commences work.
• Dismissal must be on notice.
Employers are still required to act in good
faith during a trial period but are exempt
from having to provide written reasons for
the dismissal.
After reviewing the information provided
by the midwife it was clear that, according
to the law, this midwife’s dismissal could
not be challenged. The employer had
complied with the law as described above,
although the midwife was dismissed
without having the opportunity to know
the reasons why and defend herself. From
a union perspective I fail to see where the
good faith was in the employer’s actions
and it was certainly not fair.
The reality is that nothing can be done in
respect to this midwife’s treatment. The
law enacted by the government prevents
this from occurring. Therefore, all midwives
who are moving to employment outside of
a DHB need to carefully read and consider
their employment agreement before
committing to a new employer.
New benefits for members
Coming soon are new MERAS memberonly benefits.
MERAS members will soon have access to a
great range of lifestyle benefits through our
new partnership with Member Advantage.
Benefits will include savings on a host
of products, such as accommodation,
leisure activities, adventure tours, airline
lounge memberships, international money
transfers, car rental and computers.
Member Advantage offers member and
employee benefit programmes across
Australia and New Zealand. It currently
provides exclusive benefits in partnership
with leading suppliers to over 500,000
people. Member Advantage’s large client
base means we can access competitive
and exclusive deals on behalf of MERAS
members. A number of New Zealand
unions have also partnered with Member
Advantage, which will ensure that we
will have access to increasing benefit
and services within New Zealand. Full
details will be provided in the next
Midwifery News.
Former MERAS chairperson retires
Mary Whitham, a former MERAS chairperson, has recently
retired as an employed midwife at Southern DHB. Mary has
been a consistent advocate for midwives. As Karen Guilliland
states, “Mary was a midwifery role model for supportive
change for many years. She has supported the College and the
profession, as well as individual midwives that she has worked
with to promote the principles of equity and fairness that she
holds dear”.
Mary was a founder College member, a chairperson of the
Otago region and a long-standing midwifery standards
Mary Whitham
reviewer, and has been at the forefront of the development of
MERAS in her roles as a workplace representative, a member of the union’s National
Representative Council, its chairperson and a negotiator for the MERAS MECA.
Mary was one of the original 50 members that signed on as a MERAS member
following the 2003 NZCOM conference in Dunedin, even before the union had been
officially established. She has been a valued friend and has provided unwavering
support and guidance to all members of the MERAS National Representative Council.
We wish Mary all the best in her retirement.
For MERAS Membership e-mail [email protected]
or call 03 372 9738
Midwifery News March 2015 17