What can a Hospo FPA achieve?

• Secure hours: Many hospo employers use “zero hour” contracts in all but name – “guaranteeing” 3 or 4 hours to employees who regularly work 20-40 hours. There can still be flexibility, but it has to be a two way street.
• Decent Rosters: Also very common (and illegal) is to have shifts with no end times specified, but no availability allowance paid. Workers should know when their shift will end and be able to leave then if they wish. Chronic understaffing also needs to be fixed; no-one should be forced to do two jobs.
• Decent Access to Paid Leave: That means annual, public holiday, sick, parental, bereavement, ACC and domestic violence leave. It’s all in the law, but many hospo workers get short-changed when it comes to taking and getting paid for leave.
• Regular Rest Breaks: Break lengths and timing are specified in law but many hospo workers don’t get them. Unpredictable demand does means there needs to be some flexibility – but the problem is persistent understaffing, not unexpected demand. This goes back many years – way beyond the recent staffing shortages. Most employers do not even record paid breaks.
• Proper Bullying and Sexual Harassment processes. This is a major issue, especially as the perpetrators are often managers or business owners. Again, having such processes is a legal requirement, but is simply non-existent for many hospo workers in reality.
• Proper Health and Safety reporting and resolution processes. Again required by law, but too often issues and complaints are not recorded and not dealt with as needed.

There is much more we need, and can, improve. Click here to tell us about issues at your work and what you want to see improved.

If you have a bad experience that shows why change is needed then click here to share it with us – you can write about it or just record a short video.

If you want to be part of the team to negotiate a better deal for all hospo workers sign up here.