David Lowe

Wellington, Sept 3 NZPA - A thousand employers are set to turn up at meetings over the next few days to learn more about looming employment law changes, says the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA).

The changes, announced by the Government last month, include provisions which have upset unions such as extending the 90 day trial law to all businesses, requiring permission for union access to work places and employers being able to request proof of illness from employees when they take a sick day.

EMA employment services manager David Lowe said the meetings were to advise employers on what the changes were likely to mean and how they would deliver benefits to workplaces.

"EMA has been a strong proponent of them because they will improve employment and business prospects, and the support for them is very pleasing," Mr Lowe said.

He said the meetings, in Tauranga, Rotorua, Hamilton, Whangarei and Auckland, would not be a "rent-a-crowd or gathering of professional protesters from the '80s".

Protests against the changes were held throughout the country last month.