Zac Guildford is capturing the attention of New Zealand because of his over-the-top behaviour in Rarotonga.  More...

Readers will have seen the array of tattoos displayed by rugby players during the Rugby World Cup. There was no instruction for them to cover up in the way that Claire Haupini was asked to cover up her tattoo by her employer last year.  More...

Springboks coach Peter De Villers has said that the haka is in danger of losing respect because it is performed too often. Can an employee be disciplined for performing a spontaneous haka?  More...

The Rugby World Cup is a great, once-in-a-lifetime event for New Zealand. No-one can predict the journey the All Blacks will take, hopefully, into the finals. As we have seen before there is never any certainty in sport, particularly the Rugby World Cup. The Rugby World Cup will have its benefits, but from an employment perspective there are also challenges.  More...

Rupert Murdoch and the News of the World scandal may have an impact on the way the free flow of information between people occurs. Rupert Murdoch claims that he did not know details of the illegal hacking that his organisation indulged in. Regardless, what has happened is likely to have far reaching consequences. The scandal has created something of a perfect storm which will likely see legislative change in many Western countries.  More...

Alasdair Thompson has been sacked as the Chief Executive for the Northern Employers and Manufacturers Association, according to newspaper reports.

Readers will have followed the controversy about Thompson with keen interest. He claimed that women are paid less than men because, at least in part, they take more sick leave than men. They do that because of their menstrual cycle, Mr Thompson said. More...

What happens if you crash the company car? Who is responsible for the repairs? In a recent Employment Relations Authority case, the employee was found liable because he was negligent and had a duty of care and diligence. However, the dispute ended up costing both the parties an extraordinary amount of money.  More...

The Christchurch earthquakes, the Auckland tornado and the Hawkes Bay floods are sharp reminders of the abrupt and extensive damage that natural disasters can cause to lives, homes and workplaces.

In an effort to deal with the situation of damaged workplaces and employees left without work as a result of natural disasters, there has been renewed talk of invoking an old doctrine called frustration of contract.  More...

After a long solitary shift, the temptation to nod off can be great. The Employment Relations Authority recently found that an employer had a “reasonable belief” that an employee had been sleeping on the job and was justified in dismissing him. More..