Nearly two years on from the emergence of Covid-19, everything has changed from our traditional way of working. Things are starting to settle into a new normal, however, with this new normal comes significant changes to the way that we work and the economic environment that we are working with.

We are about to enter a time where many Employers and Employees are going to be impacted by the requirements to isolate due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant. A BIG question facing everyone is “Do I have to pay employees when they are isolating and what support is available?”

Finding talent over the past year has become increasingly difficult. However, keeping good talent has also become crucial as we start to see the effects of the “Great Resignation”. We’ve touched on the Great Resignation already in a previous blog post and from what we’ve seen, a contributing factor to this trend is employee burnout.

Last month, a case came out of the Employment Court denying interim reinstatement for unvaccinated workers at Christchurch Airport.

Last month, a case came out of the Employment Court denying interim reinstatement for unvaccinated workers at Christchurch Airport.

The Great Resignation – the globally observed phenomenon of labour force exits due to greater opportunities, increased workloads, stress, and caring demands in the ongoing COVID environment. The movement started overseas during the pandemic and whilst it may not be occurring for the same reasons, we are now starting to see trends of it here in NZ with more and more resignations and shortages being reported industry wide.

New Zealand is now operating under the Traffic Light system, which means businesses may be wondering about how this will look in practice as our new ‘normal’, and how it will play out moving forward from a logistical and transactional point of view. However, there is more to think about beyond the ins and out of the rules – here is our red hot (not to be confused with a red light) take on what employers should begin to anticipate and think about if they are not already doing so:

Disagreement around the first two topics have literally led to wars on a global scale, while at a local level they have been known to cause divides between families and friends and divisions within communities. This is due to deeply held views and beliefs, polarised positions, and the passionate defense of those views that they are topics which cause an emotional response and the potential for conflict and difficult conversations.

Discretionary payments have been a relatively grey area for businesses, and employers have sought, by contract or by policy, to avoid their liability to include bonus payments in any annual leave payment calculations on these grounds.

As a mediator I have heard every word imaginable in my mediations. Parties and even legal representatives, sometimes use these words to describe what has been said for the shock value, but I am of the view it is important that we clearly understand what has been said and how it has been said. But what does it all mean?