Workers Win Protection when Business Goes Bust

New legislation passed by Parliament last night will improve protection for workers when a business goes bust, Council of Trade Unions economist Peter Conway said today.
The changes introduced through the Companies Amendment Bill and the Insolvency Amendment Bill (arising from a private member's Bill on the status of redundancy) did two very important things for workers, he said.

They lifted the present cap of $6,000 on a worker's entitlements in an insolvency situation to $15,000, and included redundancy payments within that cap for the first time.

"The cap had not been increased for 15 years," Peter Conway said. "Many workers who have negotiated redundancy agreements are angry when they see it is worth nothing in an insolvency situation.

"These Bills rectify that anomaly."