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A common question that we get asked is – how enforceable is the Restraint of Trade provision within the employee employment agreement? This is most commonly questioned when a valuable employee has recently resigned to take up a similar position in a nearby or competing industry. To answer this question, we need to understand the […]

Since returning to the office after the break, several clients have enquired whether it is likely that we will return to lockdown in 2021 and if so, what can employers do to prepare themselves for this? The fear of a further lockdown is clearly motivated by the emergence of the new UK and South African

For many years’ employees have been advancing leave to new employees (those who have not yet completed 12 months services) to cover any required period off work during the company’s annual shutdown period. This process has worked well with the amount to advanced leave then deducted from the four (4) week entitlement when this falls

As of 1 December 2020, all New Zealand registered companies must have a nominated Privacy Officer. This is a requirement under the Privacy Act 2020 coming into as of this date. No special training is required of the person who is nominated to be the Company Privacy Officer, however they are required to understand the

Increasingly employers are being required to undertake investigations into complaints or incidents prior to implementing any form of significant disciplinary action. In fact, Unjustified Dismissal claims within the Employment Relations Authority can be won or lost on the quality of the investigation undertaken by the employer. With this process now becoming a more common requirement,

Increasingly Employers are receiving medical certificates from Employees stating that they are currently off work due to ‘stress leave’ – in many cases the Doctor specifying this to be “work related stress”. When receiving such certificates, what are the Employer’s obligations to pay the Employee for this period of absence? First and foremost – there

Each year the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) analyse all Determinations of the Employment Relations Authority to track the actual costs for both Employers and Employees in taking or defending a personal grievance claim. The analysis results for the 2019 calendar year have recently been released. These results confirm that there is a growing trend

In the midst of all the disruptions created in 2020 by the Covid-19 situation, we should not lose sight of the fact that many of our standard Human Resource processes still need to be continued. For many employers, 2020 has been largely focused on reacting to the crisis facing the business environment and doing all

Since businesses recommenced work after the COVID-19 lockdown we have seen a substantial increase in the number of Personal Grievance claims being raised against employers, many of these being related to events that have occurred as a result of COVID-19 i.e. restructures or wage arrears claims, but also, a significant number in relation to other

Effective as of the 27 June 2020 the Employment Relations “Triangular Employment” Amendment Act 2019 came into place bringing with it a number of new responsibilities and liabilities for those employers who may engage ‘contract’ labour. In Part 1 of this series we looked at the context of the Triangular Relationship identifying who the ‘Host’ or ‘Controlling