A recent decision by the Court of Appeal has potentially changed the way employers calculate and pay annual holidays, after the meaning of the word “regular” was defined in the context of the Holidays Act 2003 (the Act). Specifically, the Court considered whether productivity or incentive-based payments should be excluded from the ordinary weekly pay calculation contained in s 8(2) of the Act.

A recent decision by the Court of Appeal has potentially changed the way employers calculate and pay annual holidays, after the meaning of the word “regular” was defined in the context of the Holidays Act 2003 (the Act). Specifically, the Court considered whether productivity or incentive-based payments should be excluded from the ordinary weekly pay calculation contained in s 8(2) of the Act.

Remember that this year Boxing Day, 26 December 2020 and 2 January 2021 are public holidays that fall on a Saturday. These public holidays are Mondayised, which means they are moved to the following Monday.

There are really three options about the naming of parties in employment litigation, vis that there is a total prohibition on naming parties, that there is a default setting where parties are generally not named but an application can be made by a party for names to be published, and finally the publication of names more or less automatically except where a party can persuade the court or tribunal that withholding names is appropriate.

The resurgence of COVID-19 in New Zealand’s community has raised some new (and old) questions for businesses as they try to navigate levels 3 and 2 again. We’ve put together some answers for some of the issues businesses most frequently tell us they’re grappling with:

With the Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Act 2019 officially coming into force on 27 June 2020, it is timely for employers and employees to be mindful of their current employment relationship structures and be aware of the new obligations the law creates in relation to personal grievances.

“Never A White Flag”, the memoirs of Jock Barnes, the leader of the 1951 Waterfront Workers strike/lockout – was the war cry of New Zealand’s longest industrial dispute, and according to the waterfront workers it was a lockout, not a strike.

I sat in a meeting earlier this week and I heard a conversation play out between an employer and their former employee who was made redundant as a result of COVID-19. It was a conversation I have heard many times before, not just as a result of the pandemic but as part of the numerous summaries given around how an employment relationship had broken down.

A new employment court finding further explores the commonly vexed question of when a contractor may actually be an employee. Leota v Parcel Express Ltd concerns a courier driver who has been engaged as a contractor but argued that he was not “in business for himself” as an independent contractor, rather he is actually an employee of the company. Whilst this judgement is fact-specific and does not mean that all courier drivers in New Zealand are employees, Chief Judge Christina Inglis conducts an in-depth analysis that sheds light on the real test – asking “what is the real nature of the relationship?”

When it comes to working and COVID-19, businesses have had to navigate the obstacles and new requirements that come with Alert Level 3. Over the past couple of weeks, we have been assisting and supporting clients manage their workplace and deal with the tough COVID-19 questions. We would like to share our top 4 commonly asked questions from April that may help your business adjust to the “new normal” and weather the lockdown period.