Well done Sky City and Unite

The Herald reports:

Auckland’s SkyCity casino has become the latest employer to abandon zero-hours contracts.

The company, New Zealand’s biggest single-site hospitality employer with almost 3500 staff on its Auckland site, has agreed to give its 800 part-time and on-call staff guaranteed hours of at least eight, 16, 20 or 32 hours a week, at their choice.

Good to see. Note it was done by negotiation.

“In the past it’s been a much more confrontational relationship between the unions and the casino,” he said.

“They genuinely took a constructive approach to us this time around. I think we managed to make a bit of progress on things that we wouldn’t have done previously.

“What’s going on in the background in the public arena is, of course, the zero-hours campaign. Also there was just an acknowledgement that they wanted to do what’s best by their employees… I think it’s just a realisation that part-time and zero-hours contracts are quite costly when you allow for engagement and training costs.”

He said the company still employed some genuinely casual staff as well, but had agreed on mechanisms by which they could become permanent part-time workers.

It’s important not to confuse casual staff with zero hours contracts.

Casual employment agreements are vital flexibility for both employer and employees. There is no obligation of the employee to work any particular hours, and no obligation on an employer to guarantee any hours.

Zero hour contracts are where it is one sided, where the employee must make themselves available to work as the employer demands, but in return has no guarantee of any minimum hours.