Knowledge

  1 March 2023 is Zero Discrimination Day.  It celebrates the right of everyone to live a full and productive life with dignity. In New Zealand, the right to be free from discrimination is protected by law.  This right exists in our workplaces. In this article, we provide an overview of our legal framework which […]

The last few years and the Covid-19 pandemic have provided unprecedented development in employment law.  We predict there will be continued developments in the employment law space in 2023. In this article, we look at the year ahead, anticipated trends and also break down the changes that will be impacting employers and employees. Potential Change […]

A “personal grievance” is one of the main avenues for employees to take legal action against their employer if they believe their employer has acted unfairly or unreasonably towards them.  It is a legal claim that an employer has breached their legal obligations in the employment relationship. A personal grievance can be raised by an […]

For most, the long-awaited summer holidays have ended, and it is back to work as usual.  Unfortunately, for some, the holiday period did not provide the break that was desperately needed, and many are still feeling exhausted, tired, and burnt out. According to Radio New Zealand, the summer holidays period for many was marked with […]

On 14 November 2022, Contact Energy announced a comprehensive parental leave policy.  The ‘Growing your whanau’ policy (“the Policy”) is aimed at providing primary carers with the support and flexibility required before a child arrives and when making the transition back to work. In this article, we explore how the Policy differs to the minimum […]

With the recent media around the Employment Court decision on 25 October 2022, you might be forgiven for thinking that every Uber Driver in New Zealand is now an employee.  This is not accurate.  While we anticipate the decision will be appealed to the Court of Appeal, in the meantime, we discuss the 2022 case, […]

In our Good Employer Series, we have looked at what makes a modern-day ‘good employer’ focussing on the retention of staff in the face of labour shortages and increasing overheads. In acknowledgement of the International Week of Happiness at Work (19 -25 September 2022), this article explores the benefits employers could offer to retain their […]

The Government has announced that Monday 26 September 2022 will be a one-off public holiday commemorating Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.  A state memorial will also be held on this date. While we are still waiting on the legislation, in this article, we briefly summarise what you need to know based on the information available […]

Media headlines of late have focussed on the “perfect storm of wage inflation, increased overheads and talent shortages” in New Zealand. Organisations seeking to grow are competing with border restrictions for those trying to enter the country and many taking the opportunity to do their OE now New Zealand is opening up to the world.  […]

In this article series, we look at what makes a modern-day ‘good employer’ and explore the connection between a company’s culture and its performance.  A good employment relationship starts with a strong foundation.  Like Julie Andrews says in the Sound of Music “let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start”.   Below […]