Plus Ça Change...: The Employment Contracts Act and Non-standard Employment in New Zealand, 1991-1995

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss and analyse changes in the incidence and distribution of non-standard employment in New Zealand since the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act in May 1991. Non-standard employment is defined as employment that is not permanent and full-time. The analysis is based upon data from national surveys, one of 2000 workplaces in May 1991 and another of 5,200 workplaces in May 1995. One of the chief policy objectives of the Employment Contracts Act was to enhance labour market flexibility. Non-standard employment is one indicator of labour market flexibility. Accordingly, the degree of change in non-standard employment is one indicator of the Act's success or lack of it in achieving its policy objectives. The results show that the Act has not been associated with a substantial growth in non-standard employment. The 1995 New Zealand labour force looks a lot like the 1991 labour force. The proportion of permanent full-time employees has hardly changed since 1991, and remains at more than two-thirds of the workforce. The two areas of employment to show substantial change were casual employment, which has declined since 1991 and fixed term employment which has increased. The change in casual employment is in the reverse direction from that expected by both critics and supporters of the Act. The data also show, however, that while employers expect permanent full-time employment to remain predominant, they also expect non-standard employment to rise considerably in the next five years.