The Worker Protection (Migrant and Other Employees) Bill has been passed, marking a significant milestone in protecting vulnerable workers in Aotearoa New Zealand. This will take effect on January 6, 2024. The legislation introduces amendments to the Immigration Act 2009, the Employment Relations Act 2000, and the Companies Act 1993. The Worker Protection Act constitutes the final component of the comprehensive Migrant Worker Exploitation programme package. This package includes a dedicated 0800 reporting line and webform, joint compliance efforts by

From Change-Fatigue to Change-Ready We’ve been thinking a bit about change, which can often feel like something that’s done to us, not something we plan for, manage or control. This can feel particularly so in the workplace, where it can present a variety of challenges and be difficult to do well. These days, many people are change-fatigued. This is understandable given the pace, size and complexity of what we’ve been dealing with in recent times, in all aspects of our

Ever had an employee repeatedly refuse to follow management instructions by either responding combatively or ignoring the instruction, even for what may seem like simple yet repeated instructions? Two cases from the Authority* recently considered these very scenarios and found that a reasonable employer could consider that persistent breaches of a lawful and reasonable instructions amounts to serious misconduct, resulting in the loss of trust and confidence in the employment relationship and warranting dismissal. In these recent cases the instructions

There’s been a lot of talk recently about AI and the impact AI will have or is currently having on the future of employment relations. Chat GPT has already proven remarkably adept at recruiting, researching, writing, analysing and designing. Scarily so. However, something that I think AI will never be able to do and is something I’ve noticed, particularly post-Covid 19, is the art of holding difficult conversations. During the outbreak, and especially while we were all in isolation, employers

AI in the workplace – the genie is out of the bottle! (Disclaimer 1 – this article was NOT generated or enhanced by any AI intervention) (Disclaimer 2 – Such disclaimers may very well become the norm – watch this space!) Just like every other occupation or profession, HR and ER professionals are faced with a plethora of new challenges following OpenAi’s decision to release ChatGPT and to make this ‘new toy’ available to one and all. This is certainly

Our team of HR and ER experts collectively have over 250 years’ experience doing the hard yards around anything to do with employment relations and conflict resolution. We often reflect that many of the complicated employment matters we are required for start off small. However, they escalate because of a natural tendency by employees – and very often their managers – to either ignore the issue and hope it goes away, or to second guess themselves. The downside of this

The Employment Relations Authority (the Authority) have found that resignations resulting from concerns of personal safety in the workplace and a failure to address these concerns can result in constructive dismissal, paired with a hefty price tag. In this case, a 17-year-old employee resigned after just 19 days of employment, stating they did not feel safe to return to work. The employee was also not provided with an employment agreement, despite requesting one. The Authority therefore considered what a reasonable