Source:Â First Union If New Zealand is serious about building resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic and protecting our communities against future outbreaks, statutory sick leave allowances must increase and the Holidays Act must be amended to better protect workers rather than employers, FIRST Union said today. This morning, the Education and Workforce Committee heard submissions on the Holidays (Increasing Sick Leave) Amendment Bill, and Tali Williams, Secretary for Retail and Finance, presented FIRST Unionâs argument. âWhile we support many of the changes suggested in this Bill and the general intent to offer increased protections to individual workers, an increase to ten working days of sick leave only partially deals with the problem,â said Ms Williams.