"REGULATIONS NOT ENFORCED” Employers critical of Government

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33065, 4 November 1972, Page 2

"REGULATIONS NOT ENFORCED” Employers critical of Government

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, November 3. The Government has failed to enforce the Stabilisation of Remuneration Regulations and it has made industrial law unnecessarily complex, says the annual report of the Employers’ Federation.

The president of the federation (Mr A. F. Crothall) said in the report that the Government’s failure to enforce the stabilisation restrictions had meant that those who abided by their spirit had been put grossly at a disadvantage compared with those who flouted the regulations with impunity.

Mr Crothall said it was difficult to predict what was going to happen in the future in industrial relations.

“What is predictable is that the levels of inflation likely in the next few years will be higher than New Zealand can ideally afford. "There will have to be changes in our criteria for wage negotiations if stability is to be found.” he said. Productivity Mr Crothall suggested that the historical emphasis on subjective relativities would have to give way to a concentration on productivity improvement, and the state of the national economy as guidelines for wage increases. The condition of individual industries would have to gain greater importance than the bargaining power of trade unions and the ability of employers to pass on costs to the consumer, he said.

Mr Crothall said that one strong criticism of all the legisla ion affecting industrial relations brought down by the Government this year had to be made. “Industrial law has traditionally been regarded as layman’s law because it applies, and has to be used, in every employment situation throughout the country. “For this reason it has to be simply expressed and readily understood. “The Accident Compensation Bill is a very long and tremendously complicated document, which might itself be the cause of disputes. Equal Pay Bill “The Equal Pay Bill similarly gives evidence of very little appreciation on the part of the law draftsman of the realities of the industrial situation. It is too unnecessarily complex,” he said. Mr Crothall said that the problems of application and

intepretation which had arisen from the Stabilisation Act, and then from the regulations, had caused confusion in countless instances. “The Government should look very carefully at the drafting of its industrial legislation, remembering that the law in this field is for laymen and not lawyers,” he said.