We’re in expansion mode and are looking for Senior Associate – Collective Bargaining Expert to join our team.  The role involves collective bargaining, employment relations conflict resolution (including facilitating mediations), undertaking employment investigations, and representing our clients at Employment Institutions.

A vineyard labour contractor has been penalised $25,000 by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) after a labour inspector found they failed to meet their obligation to keep employment records for a second time.

There are two main changes to parental leave payments that have taken effect as of 1 June 2017:

The bill to implement a historic pay equity settlement for 55,000 of the health sector’s lowest paid workers passed into law on the 8th June, with unanimous support from across the House.

The new Health and Safety at Work (HSAW) Act 2015 makes it clear that employers’ are obligated to prevent bullying and harrasment in the workplace. WorkSafe NZ has also made new guidelines available online which highlights employers’ duty of care under the HSWA, and as such there is now a better understanding of bullying in the workplace and the costs associated with it.

Posted on: May 11, 2017   Paul Diver Associates is pleased to introduce Lynn Booker as our new Conflict Resolution and Investigations Expert. Many of you will know Lynn from her many years as an employment mediator with MBIE or perhaps even from her time with the Labour Inspectorate. Lynn is well known for her outstanding knowledge, experience and skill in employment relations and conflict resolution, particularly in those tricky ongoing relationship problems. As an organisation, we work with our

Sarah Sherwin leaves Paul Diver Associates this week to have her second child.

On 18 April 2017 the Government reached a settlement with the unions in the long running caregiver pay equity case. This settlement impacts on 55,000 workers in the Aged Care Sector, who from 1 July 2017 will receive a pay increase of between 15 and 50 per cent, depending on their qualifications and/or service. This settlement will apply to all pay equity claims made prior to 1 July 2017 that fall within the settlement scope.

In Sanderson v South Canterbury District Health Board [2017] NZERA Christchurch 37, the Employment Relations Authority has determined that being “on-call” constitutes “work”, which means the Minimum Wage Act will apply.  As such, these employees must be paid at a rate no less than the minimum wage for every hour that they are on-call.

New employment standards legislation was introduced last year to give greater protection to employees on “zero-hour” contracts, with no guarenteed hours of work.  However, the changes have wider-reaching implications and in one way or another have an impact on almost all employment agreements, particularly regarding: