News

A recent decision by the Court of Appeal (CoA) upheld the rules of private international law by determining that the Employment Relations Act 2000 (ERA) will not apply to New Zealand based employees, where both parties have a legal employment agreement to be bound by a foreign country’s employment law. 

All businesses need to consider their contractor management processes and planning, to meet the requirements of the new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (Act).  Our team has been delivering seminars nationwide on best practice contractor management, and this article discusses what is required.

All employers need to update their employment agreements for recent legislative changes – have you done yours yet?  Our team has been delivering seminars nationwide on employment agreements and the finer points relating to these changes, as well as how to avoid common pitfalls in relation to tricky agreement clauses.  

PCBUs have a primary duty to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of workers, and others at the worksite, is not put at risk by its work.  But what happens on a building site where multiple contractors and subcontractors are working at the same time.  Who does this duty fall to?  Simply put, both risk and responsibility lies with each PCBU, and overlapping duties arise.

The Court of Appeal recently considered what is required of an employer who investigates an employee’s alleged misconduct.  The good news is the decision indicates that the standard expected of employers conducting an investigation does not equate to a judicial enquiry.

Fatigue can be defined as the temporary inability, or decrease in ability, or strong disinclination to respond to a situation, because of previous over-activity, either mental, emotional or physical.  Fatigue can create significant risks which need to be controlled in the workplace, and can significantly impact on worker ability to perform their work safely.

While fatigue is not a new concept, the law relating to fatigue in a health and safety concept is rapidly developing, and accordingly it needs to be on the radar for employers in this context.

A recent case in the Human Rights Review Tribunal (HRRT) between former conservative party leader, Colin Craig and his ex-press secretary, Rachel MacGregor highlights the financial implications an employer may incur if they fail to abide by the terms of a confidential settlement.

We have updated this article previously issued in Inform, in light of an Employment Relations Authority determination issued in late August 2016. 

In this case, the Authority found that the employer could not rely on the trial period because the relevant clause in the employment agreement did not specify the start date of the 90 day trial period.   The Authority found that it was not clear when the trial period would run from, and did not accept that it was obvious that it would take effect on the first day of the employee’s employment. 

The new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (“Act”) has been in place for several months now, and most businesses are getting to grips with the new terminology and concepts, including the two key concepts of hazard and risk explored in this article.

Health and safety leadership is key to improving organisational health and safety culture, and it needs to be “informed leadership”.  That is, in order to lead health and safety in your business, you need to have a working understanding of the health and safety duties and obligations.