The Government has introduced new legislation to provide a framework for the negotiation of sector-based and occupation-based “agreements” – which would provide for minimum employment terms to be set across all employers and employees in certain industries or occupations. This Bill represents the biggest proposed change to our employment relations system since 2000. Summary of the FPA process We will outline below how [...]
The New Zealand Government is currently proposing a compulsory income insurance scheme for all workers in New Zealand. If this is established, the scheme will provide workers with 80% of their income for a total of up to seven months if their employment ends by reason of redundancy or incapacity. In short, the scheme aims to provide some extra economic security for workers who [...]
Omicron case numbers have increased significantly over the weekend and, as a result, New Zealand will move to phase two of the three-phase Omicron response at 11:59pm tonight. In this article, we set out how the move to phase two affects testing and isolation requirements and the mechanisms which employers can use to keep their businesses operating during this phase. New self-isolation [...]
As employers consider what their organisation’s post-pandemic return to work might be, one thing is certain: working from home arrangements will become part of the new normal. Creating a sustainable flexible work environment requires consideration of many aspects of business operations. From human resources to health and safety and diversity initiatives, employers are faced with a multitude of issues to consider when developing a [...]
Summer is over, and once again, workers are returning to their makeshift home offices, with employers facing a further uncertain few months ahead over the arrival of Omicron in New Zealand. Yesterday, Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall provided more detail on the Government’s new three-step approach to the Omicron outbreak. In this article, we break down the three phases of the Government's new [...]
The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccination Assessment Tool) Regulations 2021 (Regulations) have been released and come into force today, 15 December 2021. The Regulations set out a vaccination assessment tool that can be used by PCBUs to determine whether it is reasonable to require workers of the PCBU not to carry out work unless they are vaccinated. Many PCBUs have already implemented their own [...]
The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Protection Framework) Order 2021 (Order) has finally been issued. This Order provides the legal framework for the COVID-19 Protection Framework, known as the traffic light system. The Order comes into effect 11:59 pm on Thursday, 2 December 2021. This Order revokes the previous public health order, COVID-19 Public Health Response (Alert Level Requirements) Order (No 12) 2021 which [...]
The passing of the COVID-19 Response (Vaccinations) Legislation Act 2021 (Act) on 25 November 2021 marks the legal shift in the next stage of New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This legislation will most likely be the most important legislation passed by Parliament this year for employers. Potentially, because of the urgency in which it was passed, there were no major amendments to the [...]
As New Zealand moves to make vaccinations the cornerstone of New Zealand’s COVID-19 response under the COVID-19 Protection Framework, it is equally important that employers have a clear legal framework for the role which vaccinations will play in the workplace. Therefore, it is welcome news to employers that the COVID-19 Response (Vaccinations) Legislation Bill was introduced into Parliament yesterday to help clarify how employers [...]
In what is welcome news to many employers, the Court of Appeal has overruled the Employment Court’s judgment regarding discretionary incentive payments under the Holidays Act 2003. The Court of Appeal held that where incentive schemes reserve a discretion for an employer not to make payment, such incentive payments are discretionary under the Holidays Act. This means that the payments would not form part [...]