Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Alan McDonald: EMA Head of Advocacy on Kiwis taking more sick days than ever before

Transcript

Alan McDonald: EMA Head of Advocacy on Kiwis taking more sick days than ever before · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The key is here calling in sick more than ever,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: businesses are feeling it. We're now averaging six point seven
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: six days a year. That is up from five and
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: a half in twenty twenty two. This has come from
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: a Business New Zealand and Southern Cross report. They blame
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: labour twenty twenty one move doubling the sick leave and
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: tarament from five to ten days. You'll remember that Alan
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: McDonald's with us from the Employees Manufacturer's Association. Nolan good morning.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Morning, right.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: So is that how material is that to a business's costs?
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: Well, every day you're not working and you're paying somebody
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: for it, obviously that is a cost and that's a
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: bit of lost productivity.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: But I mean the flip side is that I think
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: most employers.
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: Realize and manage their workforces because it's better perhaps to
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: not have them there rather than coming and infecting other
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: people with stuff, which is what the change was made
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: for in the first place under COVID.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: But I think still applies with everything else that's around
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: What are people saying when they you know, what's the
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: excuse when they call in sack these days? That do
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: people say, I'm just I need the day off that
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: they say I'm sick. Do they say I'm taking a
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: personal day.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: It's generally genuine sickness, and I think most employers do
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: accept that that is the case. So, you know, I
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: think at the old days of malingerers, if you liked,
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: you don't see much of that. There's always some of
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: that though, but it's a very small proportion.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: So this increase is actually just better reflecting how sick
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: we do get in your average year.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it better reflects the understanding in the
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: workplace that you know, people do get sick, they are
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: genuine about it, and it's better to haven't managed and
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: have them in the workplace. But do remember there's a
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: change coming for part time workers as well, that that
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: ten days.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Entitlement is going with. And you leave that book and Alden's.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Bringing in really interesting stuff. Ellen, thank you for the
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Alan McDonald the Employees and Manufacturers Association.
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: to news Talks it'd be from five am weekdays, or
• 2:11
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