By Vaughan Elder of NZPA
New Zealand youth will be unfairly hit by the extension of the 90-day probation period as they often enter the workplace under-prepared, says Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Judy McGregor.
A report by the Human Rights Commission concluded that New Zealand's youth were going into their first jobs under-prepared and this would put youth at a disadvantage when on probation, Dr McGregor said.
"If they are ill-prepared for the work place in the first place and then they face a probationary period, then they are at a double disadvantage," she said.
The findings of the National Conversation about Work report come after the Government announced yesterday it will extend a 90-day-trial period to all employers, with Prime Minister John Key saying the change will provide greater opportunities to people looking for jobs.
Ds McGregor, who led the two-year project, said successive governments had failed New Zealand's young people by not giving them enough career advice or apprenticeship options.
"Currently, we are failing too many young people who are not well prepared for their first job," she said.
"The National Conversation about Work showed there was a need for every young person, not just some, to have access to quality school-based careers advice, the ability to access apprenticeships or other launch pads in their regions," Dr McGregor said.
The extension of the 90-day probationary period to all employers would probably not make employers more likely to take a chance on young people and would instead make employers less likely to invest in their young workers, she said.
"I think it means that there's less obligation on employers to actually invest in people during that 90 days and I think that will be tragedy for young people," Dr McGregor said.
The probationary period may also make employers lazy about who they recruit.
"Employers may just become slacker about recruitment, instead of trying to hire the best person for the job," she said.
A youth-to-work plan for every young New Zealander, to improve employment prospects and choices, was a major recommendation of the report, Ds McGregor said.
The recommendation comes a day after the Government announced a number of employment law changes including the extension of the 90-day probation period, when new employees can be sacked without taking a grievance case, to all businesses.
Prime Minister John Key told delegates at National's annual conference that the changes would give job seekers greater opportunities.
"This is a policy of opportunity," he told more than 600 applauding delegates.
"It is about giving people the chance to find a job and nothing is more important than that."
The report which was a two-year project and represented the views of over 3000 employers and employees was also concerned about employers' bias against certain groups.
"The high unemployment of young Maori and Pacific people and the current bias against hiring some young people are issues we all need to be concerned about," said Dr McGregor.
NZPA