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 'Problematic' Aussie executives bring unfair dismissal work to Hesketh Henry. New Zealanders pride themselves on being different from Australians and their differences in employment legislation are bringing Kiwi firms a good line of unfair dismissal work. Arguably the largest source of work has come from the 2001 dot-com bubble burst when several 'problematic' Australian senior executives travelled to New Zealand to terminate staff, without undergoing any formal process. "They simply informed staff of their termination and asked them to sign a deed of release. Now this was fatal since Kiwi consultation requirements for redundancy far exceed that of Australia and the most common remedy for unjustified dismissal is reinstatement, now you can just imagine how the Aussie managing director or CEO felt about that," said Hesketh Henry partner Jim Roberts. Australian senior executives and directors are common in New Zealand, and corporate boards often consist of both Kiwi and Australian directors, partly due to significant investment between the two countries. So far Roberts has observed a new trend of Australian clients seeking advice prior to executing retrenchments. This is partly because more of them are aware of the differences in Kiwi employment law. "We are currently working on a process involving a US-headquartered company, where it has insisted that the business avoid redundancies in both Australia and New Zealand - a positive change," he said. Jim Roberts is Hesketh Henry’s Employment specialist and is contactable on + 64 9 375 8723 or via email: jim.roberts@heskethhenry.co.nz |
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