Bill Higher Income Earners Contract Personal Grievance Provisions

Posted on: Apr 26, 2017

The Employment Relations (Allowing Higher Earners to Contract Out of Personal Grievance Provisions) Amendment Bill passed its first reading on 22 March 2017.

The bill seeks to amend the Employment Relations Act 2000 by allowing employees with an annual gross salary over $150,000 to contract out of the personal grievance provisions. The Bill is intended to remove the threat of personal grievance for the employer in exchange for agreed terms with the employer.

The Bill provides in detail for the making of the agreement, which must be in writing, the employee must have the benefit of independent legal advice and the lawyer who gives that advice must certify that he or she has given the employee advice explaining the effect and implications of the term before the employee signed the agreement. That lawyer must witness the employee’s signature (Clause 5, inserting New Section 102A into the Act).

You can view this Bill by clicking here.  Submissions are open until 5 May 2017, submissions can be made online via the New Zealand Parliment website.  We will keep you updated on any progress made with this interesting Bill.

 

Disclaimer

This article, and any information contained on our website is necessarily brief and general in nature, and should not be substituted for professional advice. You should always seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters addressed.

Disclaimer

This article, and any information contained on our website is necessarily brief and general in nature, and should not be substituted for professional advice. You should always seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters addressed.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Christmas is coming…

Christmas is coming…

Once Labour Day has been [yes, believe it or not it’s this coming Monday], the next public holidays are at Christmas and New Year. It always feels like employers have to put a bit more thought into Christmas and New Year because: there are four public holidays; this is a time that many businesses have their annual closedown period; many employees take their annual leave; some employees don’t have enough leave to cover this period; some employment agreements have special rates for these public holidays; and, let’s face it, it is a busy busy busy time. In the next few weeks, my colleague, Tasneem Begum, and I will be offering a free webinar for those employers who want a bit more information around those tricky calculations for leave at this time of the year. We will also be able to answer the questions you have and the challenges you face with leave during the Christmas/New Year period. You are not alone with the questions you have – Questions we are often asked at this time of the year are about employing staff to cover the busy Christmas period

Read More
One of those weeks: Mental Health Awareness Week 2022

One of those weeks: Mental Health Awareness Week 2022

I have had one of those weeks where I have been in full day mediations virtually every day out of Auckland. What hit me at these mediations is the despair that people find themselves in by the time they arrive at my door. With varying degrees, all of these mediations had people in deep emotional turmoil. Anguish, frustration, anger and deep sadness, to the point where I had to pause to ensure the people were in the right space to make good decisions for themselves.

Read More
What the heck is going on with pay?

What the heck is going on with pay?

While we are conscious of the impact that inflation is having on wage and salary conversations, there are four other levers that have been, and are being, used to bring about fundamental change and significant uplift to pay in New Zealand. The Government is using these levers to drive increases in pay at various levels in ways that we may not be conscious of. However, when brought together as a single thread, they are having a big impact.

Read More
PREV NEXT