Unfair dismissal; Conflict resolution; Adverse action claims; rights and responsibilities; Accessorial liability
Often when employers call us with a question or problem they ask “Is this happening a lot at the moment?” And nine times out of 10 the answer is “Yes”. Things come in waves. For example, the last couple of years we have seen an increase in employers managing bullying, harassment and sexual harassment complaints….
Statistics and case law confirm a striking and continuous upward trend in awards for hurt and humiliation under section 123 of the Employment Relations Act 2000. For the first half of this decade (and for years preceding that) hurt and humiliation awards remained largely consistent, with judges following and establishing fixed precedents. But from around…
The Labour Inspectorate enforces and monitors minimum employment standards such as the minimum wage, holidays and leave entitlements. A Labour Inspector has the legal right to issue a financial penalty, liability to both the company and the directors as an individual for arrears in wages and holiday pay, and the business may be added to…
This is the last of four briefings to help you and your organisation prepare. A major overhaul of New Zealand’s privacy laws is underway and you need to be ready when it comes into force (currently expected to be in mid-2020). This is the last of four briefings to help you and your organisation prepare. Policy compliance…
The New Zealand Law Society notes that Parliament and government officials will expect a busy 2020, with a large number of legislative and regulatory initiatives planned to take place. Below are details of Employment Law planned initiatives that will result in legislation being introduced. Fair Pay Agreements System An August 2019 discussion paper outlines options…
In brief – In this article we review the significant events from 2019 in the area of employment, safety and industrial law in Australia, and we look ahead to 2020 2019 saw the ten year anniversary of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act), a spotlight on wage theft, new whistleblower protections, and the reigniting of the…
Amy Walsh from Minter Ellison discusses a couple of key take-aways for educating your operational and senior managers which help reduce adverse actions risks.
The Federal Court of Australia has upheld an appeal from the Industrial Magistrates Court of Western Australia, finding that an employer (“Employer”) had failed to disprove underpayment allegations made by a pair of former employees (“Employees”). In doing so, the Court considered section 557C of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (“FW Act”), which places…
The latest decisions from the Employment Court on the outdated Holidays Act 2003 (Act) reinforce our view that significant change to New Zealand’s holiday pay system must be treated as a matter of urgency by the Government. Our employer clients have consistently ranked this issue as their top employment law priority, but reform continues to…
When a dispute arises, it’s far too common for parties to “lawyer up” before they’ve looked at the dispute from multiple angles and figured out the right way to resolve it. It’s no secret that litigation is time consuming, emotionally wearing and costly. The costs associated with going to court will likely be disproportionate to…