Newsletter Articles 2018
17 December 2018
The Employment Relations Amendment Bill passed its third reading on 5 December, meaning changes to employment law are coming. Some amendments will come into force as soon as the Governor-General gives Royal Assent. Some will be operative from 6 May 2019.
Many of these changes are a return to the law in force when Labour was last in government. The amendments are said to be intended to restore key minimum standards and protections for employees and strengthen collective bargaining and union rights in the workplace with the goal of introducing greater fairness in the workplace. More ...
30 October 2018
Who is responsible for the health and safety of staff working from home? This is a question many businesses may not have turned their minds to. As working arrangements become more varied and flexible it is increasingly important that businesses and workers are aware of their obligations. More ...
22 August 2018
In recent months the Employment Court has decided several cases on what it means to be ‘working’. The court’s decisions may surprise many employers’ and challenge understandings of when employees are working and must be paid.
South Canterbury DHB v Sanderson [2017] NZEmpC 127
Six anaesthetic technicians (ATs) who work for the South Canterbury DHB at Timaru Hospital claimed that while on call they were legally ‘working’ and should be paid the minimum wage.
The ATs were frequently on call so that surgery could be carried out at any time. If an AT is required while on call they must attend the hospital within 10 minutes. Accordingly, while the ATs were on call they had to stay in accommodation at or adjacent to the hospital. More ...
12 June 2018
Unprecedentedly high compensation awards have been made in the employment jurisdiction in recent months. Not only are greater amounts are being awarded, an entirely new approach of awarding compensation on the basis of low, mid-range, and high level loss or damage to the employee is being applied. While these changes look promising for potential employee claimants, it is certainly a worrying trend for employers. More ...
17 April 2018
It is important for employees to have the opportunity for rest and recreation and it’s important to employers that they don’t have to pay for that rest twice! Employers have the responsibility to ensure that they are providing the correct annual leave entitlements to their employees.
The general rule in the Holidays Act is that an employee is entitled to at least four weeks’ annual leave after 12 months continuous employment. However, an alternative ‘pay-as-you-go’ arrangement is allowed, but only where the employee is employed for a fixed term of less than 12 months or they work such intermittent or irregular hours that it is impracticable for the employer to provide them four weeks’ annual leave. More ...
9 March 2018
Labour’s election campaign featured numerous promises to tilt employment standards back in favour of employees. The Labour government introduced has now a Bill to amend the Employment Relations Act and make good on those promises.
Labour’s changes to employment law are intended to introduce greater fairness in the workplace between employees and employers, in order to promote productive employment relationships. The Bill is now before the Select Committee. Time is still available for members of the public to make submissions before the 30 March 2018 deadline. More ...
