Backing Small Business

Small businesses turn hard work and good ideas into opportunities for other New Zealanders, from a first job to the higher wages that come with growth.

Every cost and stupid rule imposed by Government makes that growth harder, leaving workers with fewer opportunities and customers paying more.

ACT has already cut red tape for small businesses in Government. This package goes further so the people who build businesses and those who work for them can get ahead through their own effort.

Read ACT’s full policy, Let small business get on with business, here.

ACT will:

• Freeze the adult minimum wage for three years, giving employers certainty and allowing productivity to catch up with past increases.

• Introduce a Training Wage set at 60 per cent of the adult minimum wage for workers under 20 during their first 12 months with an employer.

• Allow employers and employees to begin protected negotiations about a consensual exit, while maintaining safeguards against coercion.

• Require personal grievance proceedings to be lodged with the Employment Relations Authority within three months of the grievance being raised, rather than leaving claims hanging over a business for up to three years.

• Make payroll deductions for union fees voluntary, so employers are not forced to collect fees on a union’s behalf. This policy was developed from a Member's Bill by ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar.

• Allow businesses to deduct productive software and digital investment under clear and consistent tax rules.

In our team’s words:

ACT Small Business spokesperson Laura McClure says:

“New Zealand will not become more prosperous by making it harder to employ somebody, take a chance on a young worker, resolve a dispute, or invest in technology.

“ACT’s approach is different from the assumption that every problem needs another rule. New Zealanders have enormous potential when Government gets out of the way and allows them to get on with reaching it.

“Successful small businesses get more people in work, and create higher wages. Achieving that requires a dedicated presence in Government focused on unlocking the potential of every New Zealander willing to build, hire, innovate, and take risks.”