Ministry of Health statistics confirm that during 2016, 169,454 people accessed mental health services in New Zealand. The law of averages suggests that most workplaces will – to a lesser or greater degree – be affected at some time by an employee’s mental health issue.

Managers and HR practitioners often tell us that dealing with employees who are genuinely too sick or injured to work is one of their least favourite tasks. Frankly, we can see why.

Confusion continues to reign supreme in the application of trial periods.

Shops can now open on Easter Sunday

If you are planning on terminating under a trial period, we strongly suggest that you seek legal advice first

The obligation an employer has to be open and honest to its employees, active and constructive, responsive and communicative and not to mislead or deceive, is the exact same set of obligations that employees owe to their employer

Summary dismissal, that is, dismissal without notice, may arise in relation to serious misconduct, and sometimes where misconduct is repeated

Transferring public holidays

Which type of employment agreement should you be using?

What is a formal warning?

An employer can deduct a sum equivalent to the salary for the unworked period from the employee's final pay. However, there are two cautionary notes:

The Employment Standards Legislation Bill (Bill), recently introduced to Parliament by the Government, proposes a raft of changes across employment legislation.

Holding a union delegate responsible for 66 bottles of beer can be discrimination.  So says the Court of Appeal.  Is discrimination the new frontier?

Once an employer has investigated allegations of misconduct, and reached the conclusion that yes, the employee has indeed done what they were accused of, it is tempting to race to the finish line, and...

For a long time, enforcement of employment standards has been a bit of the proverbial slap on the hand with a wet bus ticket.   However, things are about to get quite a lot tougher for employers who...

Recently we have noticed a number of employers getting themselves in trouble when it comes to the disciplinary process.   Often, these employers will have a good idea of what the employee has done w...

There has been a lot of comment in recent months about changes to rest and meal break entitlements.  Based on those comments, one could be forgiven for thinking the world was ending.  Take one union...

For a long time, enforcement of employment standards has been a bit of the proverbial slap on the hand with a wet bus ticket.   However, things are about to get quite a lot tougher for employers who...

The term ‘Mondayised’ sounds more intimidating than it really is.

Wage and time records are not the sexiest or most captivating aspect of employment law.  Indeed, it is an element of HR that is easy for even the best, most diligent practitioners to forget.   Howe...

Suspending an employee is not as straightforward as many employers may think. In this article, we guide you through the legalities.

Redundancies have been a hot-button issue over the past 18 months, with no fewer than four Employment Court decisions dealing with them.  The Court of Appeal has now weighed in, and made findings tha...

Businesses should take the opportunity to ensure they have a clear policy in place which outlines their position regarding social media.

Way way back, during the 2011 election campaign, National made a promise to amend the Employment Relations Act 2000.  Following what has proven to be a long-winded saga featuring criminal convictions...

What happens when an employee, or an unsuccessful candidate for a position, wants to see information relevant to their file or application that the employer considers is confidential?  The Human Righ...

An employment relationship commences with an offer and acceptance of employment. 

When restructuring a business, it is important to pay particular attention to employees whose employment may be affected while they are on parental leave.

We expunge some of the myths.

The Employment Relations Act is changing (yes, again!).  What does this mean for you? Now that the Christmas tree has been packed away for another year and the New Year celebrations have been success...

Christmas bonuses, annual bonuses, or quarterly bonuses that are paid shortly before Christmas may all have an impact on holiday payments. Generally speaking, if the payment is made under an employee�...

If, as an employer, you have gifting policies, now is a good time to remind employees of their content.

Employers are entitled to have a Christmas closedown – provided they customarily have had a closedown period.  Unfortunately, what constitutes “customarily” is somewhat unclear: an employer tha...

In 2013-2014, both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on a Wednesday.  Boxing Day and 2 January 2014 both fall on a Thursday.  Accordingly, all are to be observed on the actual days they fall. Publ...

Employers have responsibility for their staff at any work-related Christmas function.  This can potentially include client functions. Employee behaviour can stray into misconduct, particularly where ...

A Fonterra driver has won his unjustified dismissal case after failing to disclose previous criminal convictions in his job application. The application included a warning that a failure to disclose c...

A job application form seems so simple, however they can be harder to make legally compliant than you might think. In the Media An extreme example recently reported by Fairfax Media was a series of �...

It is a fundamental rule that employers must pay the entire amount of an employee’s wage without any deduction.  But what about PAYE, an overpayment made to the employee or if the employee owes you...

It is the nature of business that employees often resign in order to take up jobs with competitors.  In some cases, these employees are privy to valuable business information which soon-to-be ex-empl...

A pregnant pause In March 2013, The Observer reported that: “one in seven women surveyed had lost their job while on maternity leave; 40% said their jobs had changed by the time they returned, with ...

Replacement Workers – Are the times (and the law) changing? On 13 June the Employment Relations (Continuity of Labour) Amendment Bill was drawn from the ballot of private members’ bills, meaning t...

The Employment Relations Act Gets a Makeover In the March 2013 edition of Employment News, we mentioned that the Government was to introduce a new Bill to amend the Employment Relations Act 2000 in se...

Most employers are now cognisant that employees are entitled to rest breaks and meal breaks during the employee’s working hours. What may not be so clear are the employer’s obligations to inform a...

Who knew that Fonterra employees were such dedicated followers of internet trends? The dairy giant has once again found itself embroiled in employment litigation over a social media craze. Back in 201...

Subject to any guidelines, agreement, or policies to the contrary, an employee is allowed to turn up to work wearing an ugly tie or with a horrific haircut. An employee’s appearance, is, within reas...

Four recent decisions of the Employment Court have found the employers’ reasons for redundancy wanting, and have consequentially held the dismissals to be unjustified. Rittson-Thomas t/a Totara ...

The answer is not so straightforward

Are pre-employment assessments possible or has an employee already entered into employment?

Judge Barrie Travis Judge Travis, a long-serving Judge of the Employment Court in Auckland, retired at the end of 2012. A member of the Court since 1989, Judge Travis has been responsible for some of ...

Given the summer holiday, one would expect little to report in the way of proposed legislative changes to employment law.  The Government clearly didn’t get that memo!  Since November, it has anno...

Recently, the European Court of Human Rights (“ECHR”) ruled on claims brought by four applicants based upon what they saw as discrimination against them in their workplaces on the grounds of relig...

The Employment Relations Authority’s decision in Edwards v Two Degrees Mobile Ltd serves as a reminder to employers of the fundamental requirement to reduce agreements to writing.  It also demonstr...

In the recent decision of Faitala v Terranova Homes & Care Ltd, the Employment Court firmly rejected an employer’s position that it was entitled to deduct the employer’s compulsory KiwiSaver c...

We are quite often asked what to do if an employee just won’t turn up to a disciplinary meeting.  Do you have to delay forever? Can you box on and hold the meeting without the employee in question?...

DON’T LET THE TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD STORY The New Zealand Herald reported on 21 January 2013 about a manager at Independent Liquor (referred to using the Bond-esque title “Mr X”) who wa...

LEGISLATION UPDATE What’s new in the world of employment-related legislation? A real mix of developments in legislation dealing with adventure tourism, parental leave, the controversial “...

Watch This Space! Since our last edition of Employment News, we have learned of two important cases before the Employment Court regarding KiwiSaver contributions and Equal Pay for women. There are al...

The State Sector and Public Finance Reform Bill was introduced to Parliament in late August, and is currently awaiting its first reading.

When a ‘vulnerable’ employee elects to transfer employers under Part 6A of the Employment Relations Act 2000 (“Act”), all their employment entitlements transfer with them.  The new employer b...

In a matter of months the Minister of Labour has stated that she intends to review the law regarding constructive dismissal, a couple of constructive dismissal cases were reported in the media, and Ch...

Either Crest Commercial Cleaning (“Crest”) are on a crusade against Part 6A of the Employment Relations Act 2000 (“Act”) or Part 6A has unfairly rallied against Crest.  The object of Part 6A ...

Fixed Term Employment Agreements Section 66 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 (“ERA”) allows an employer to employ an employee for a fixed term. There are, however, various prerequisites, set o...

What’s new in the world of employment-related legislation?