Insights

This article was written by Ireland Hendry-Tennent, and published on Newshub (27 August 2021). As the Delta outbreak continues to grow and New Zealand's vaccine rollout ramps up, there are questions around whether employers can fire people for refusing to get the jab. Last month the Government expanded its mandatory vaccine requirements to include workers at ports and airports who are at the greatest [...]

COVID-19 and its devastating effects continue to raise many difficult questions in relation to employers’ obligations towards employees.  The latest version of the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Alert Level Requirements) Order (No 9) 2021 states at clause 15 that “all persons in the alert level 4 area must remain at their current home or place of residence, except for essential personal movement permitted…”. As [...]

A radio show recently invited listeners to call in and anonymously confess what they have used sick leave for. Some interesting answers included: Going on a date and drinking a bottle of wine; Going skydiving; Going horse racing (and winning, and being on TV, albeit no one seeing); Getting a massage with their partner, then taking the dog for a walk; Watching the Oscars [...]

While employers in New Zealand are permitted to terminate an employee’s employment for reasons of medical incapacity, such a decision ought to be approached with care. A broad framework has emerged from case law, which employers can use to navigate this tricky area of the law.  In this article, we have set out some critical considerations and a recent case to illustrate how [...]

In 2018, the Government established the Holidays Act Taskforce to review and suggest amendments to the Holidays Act 2003.  In October 2019, the Taskforce issued its report, and the Government announced in February 2021 that it has accepted all 22 recommendations made by the Taskforce. In theory, the recommendations are aimed at providing greater clarity and certainty for employees and employers regarding their [...]

In this article, we will explore three areas of interest and give guidance on what employers can do to address problems in the workplace. Areas of Interest Unjustified Dismissal Unjustified dismissal is one of the most common categories of personal grievance. A spike in unjustified dismissal cases was observed following the transition into level 1 during the first lockdown period in 2020. Although [...]

Yesterday, Thursday 14 May 2020, the Government announced an extension to the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy, as part of its $50b COVID-19 recovery budget.  In this article, we outline the eligibility requirements employers must meet to apply for the Wage Subsidy extension, and what entitlements they could receive. Wage Subsidy extension The Wage Subsidy extension will be available from 10 June 2020 until 1 [...]

An outline of eligibility requirements and entitlements With the current economic landscape, employers need to ensure that they remain up to date with subsidies that are available to them. Of note is the Leave Support Scheme, which as of 1 May 2020, is available for essential and non-essential employers that meet the criteria. This payment was formerly called the ‘Essential Workers Leave Support’, [...]

With the recent move to level 3, and impending level 2, more and more employees will be returning to their place of work. For many of these employees, gone are the days of extended periods of leave or working from home. With the Prime Minister’s announcement on level 2 scheduled for Monday, the earliest we could see level 2 is after 11:59pm on [...]