Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill
The departmental disclosure statement for a Government Bill seeks to bring together in one place a range of information to support and enhance the Parliamentary and public scrutiny of that Bill.
It identifies:
- the general policy intent of the Bill and other background policy material;
- some of the key quality assurance products and processes used to develop and test the content of the Bill;
- the presence of certain significant powers or features in the Bill that might be of particular Parliamentary or public interest and warrant an explanation.
This disclosure statement was prepared by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment certifies that, to the best of its knowledge and understanding, the information provided is complete and accurate at the date of finalisation below.
14 October 2015.
Part One: General Policy Statement
The purpose of the Bill is to allow the statutory restrictions on shops opening on Easter Sunday to be removed by granting the territorial authorities the power to create bylaws to permit all shops to open in all or part of their districts on Easter Sunday. This allows community choice on whether shops open on Easter Sunday in the whole or part(s) of their district.
The Bill does not make any changes to the exemptions from trading restrictions already in place.
The Bill recognises the significance of Easter Sunday and allows all shop workers the right to refuse to work on Easter Sunday. It provides shop workers the right to raise a personal grievance where an employer compels a shop worker to work on Easter Sunday or treats a shop worker adversely because he or she refused to work on that day. Shop workers will not be required to provide a reason for that refusal and must be informed by their employer of their right to refuse to work.
The Bill achieves this by amending the Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal Act 1990 (the Act) to:
· grant territorial authorities a limited power to create bylaws that allow shop trading in defined areas within their boundaries on Easter Sunday
· enable shop workers the ability to refuse work on Easter Sunday without giving a reason
· enable shop workers to bring a personal grievance against an employer who compels them to work on Easter Sunday or treats them adversely because of their refusal to work on Easter Sunday.
The Bill also amends the title of the Act from the Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal Act 1990 to the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990, for the purposes of simplifying name of the Act.
The Bill will preserve the following parts of the Act:
· the current status of Easter Sunday (not create a new public holiday)
· the current restrictions related to alcohol for Easter Sunday
· the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment will continue to be responsible for the enforcement of the Act to ensure a consistent approach for all the restricted trading days in the Act
· the current penalties for breaches of shop trading on Easter Sunday
· the historic exemptions to shop trading on Easter Sunday.
Part Two: Background Material and Policy Information
Published reviews or evaluations
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Relevant international treaties
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Regulatory impact analysis
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2.3.2. Are there aspects of the policy to be given effect by this Bill that were not addressed by, or that now vary materially from, the policy options analysed in these regulatory impact statements? | NO |
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Extent of impact analysis available
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Part Three: Testing of Legislative Content
Consistency with New Zealand’s international obligations
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Consistency with the government’s Treaty of Waitangi obligations
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Consistency with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990
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Offences, penalties and court jurisdictions
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Privacy issues
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External consultation
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Other testing of proposals
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Part Four: Significant Legislative Features
Compulsory acquisition of private property
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Charges in the nature of a tax
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Retrospective effect
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Strict liability or reversal of the usual burden of proof for offences
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Civil or criminal immunity
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Significant decision-making powers
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Powers to make delegated legislation
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Any other unusual provisions or features
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