After the Job Conference in Auckland two weeks ago, (see February 27th 2009)the government has moved quickly to bring in a nine-day fortnight. The idea is for workers to take one day off every two weeks for training. This will help employers who do not have enough work for all their workers. Perhaps they will not have to lay off their workers. It will also help to give workers more job skills.

This scheme will start at the end of the month and will last for six months. Workers will get $62.50 for that day which is equal to the minimum wage for five hours work. It will mean a small cut in wages for these workers. They will lose three hours pay and if they earn more than the minimum wage at the moment, they will lose even more. There is a cost to the employer also. He or she has to pay for the training. Only companies that employ 100 or more workers can use this scheme. Most businesses in New Zealand employ fewer than 20 workers so this scheme will not help these small businesses.

We need to wait to see how many companies will use this scheme and whether it saves jobs.