Employment agreements may include a term (called an abandonment clause) to the effect that an employee who fails to attend work for a consecutive number of days (usually a minimum of three days), without consent or without notifying the employer shall be deemed to have abandoned his or her employment. In such a situation, the employee is treated as if he or she had terminated the employment and there is no dismissal.

Constructive dismissal occurs in the following situations:

The most commonly used social media sites include:

There are two major Employment Court cases on drug and alcohol testing in the workplace:  NZ Amalgamated Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union Inc v Air New Zealand Ltd (‘Air NZ”) and Maritime Union of New Zealand Inc v TLNZ Ltd (“MUNZ”).

Some of the current rules around collective bargaining limit choice, flexibility and the effectiveness of the bargaining process.  The Government has announced that they intend to make a number of improvements to the Employment Relations Act this term to help provide a fair and flexible environment, including:

Take a look at this quirky video on change management. It’s only three minutes long and provides some useful tips if you’re about to embark on a change process in your organisation.

There has been a long-standing presumption that restraints of trade (RoT) are often unlawful and unenforceable. It is no longer safe to assume they are “not worth the paper they are written on”.

“Here’s to the Crazy Ones” (Steve Jobs – Apple)

If an employee tenders his/her resignation during a formal process (disciplinary/investigation etc) it is important that the employer follows the correct procedure to ensure that the Company is not exposed to the risk of a personal grievance for constructive dismissal.

Under the Employment Relations Act 2000, a “personal grievance” is an action taken against an employer or former employer by an employee who claims to have been: • unjustifiably dismissed • disadvantaged in employment by an unjustifiable action of the employer • discriminated against • sexually harassed • racially harassed • subject to duress in relation to union membership, or • disadvantaged by the employer’s failure to comply with the Act’s requirements in relation to restructuring    situations