Posts Tagged 'employment law'

Smiths City – Employment Court confirms the obligation to pay employees for all hours worked

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For many years, we have been advising employers that requiring employees to participate in unpaid meetings and undertake “before work” tasks such as health and safety checks, or the requirement to cash up after hours, amounts to work, and should result in an employee being paid.  The Employment Court recently confirmed that view.  Employers should be aware of the potential legal issues that flow from the Smiths City decision.

In Labour Inspector v Smiths City Group Limited, the Court held that ...

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Workplace family violence action

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On 25 November, we acknowledged White Ribbon Day, the international day for the elimination of men’s violence against women. Given the high levels of domestic violence in New Zealand, and its devastating impact, is timely that we consider the Victims’ Protection Bill introduced into Parliament earlier this year by Green Party MP, Jan Logie, to help employees who are victims of domestic violence.

The unusual circumstance of unanimous Parliamentary support for the Bill in its first reading is demonstrative of the ...

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The Weinstein sexual harassment scandal is not unique to the States

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Sadly, the allegations about Harvey Weinstein’s long term sexual harassment of women in the movie industry will be of no surprise to many. They will ring true to countless other women of their own experiences in the workplace.  In the privileged position I hold as an employment lawyer, there are many cases I have seen where women across the spectrum of industries and levels of seniority have suffered sexual harassment.  I have no doubt that many more have suffered in ...

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Political round up – a focus on employment law

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Although media attention has been well and truly on this week’s election, there has been little discussion regarding policies that relate to employment issues.

Unsurprisingly, National’s approach is to maintain the status quo.  In comparison, Labour is proposing some fundamental changes to employment law, for example, amendments to trial periods, the collective bargaining and introduction of industry-wide terms and conditions of employment (“Fair Pay” Agreements), which some have likened this to a return to a form of national “award” structures, and ...

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Safety for the Children’s Workforce

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Keeping children safe is a collective responsibility. Organisations who work with children are required to ensure that their policies and practices reflect this responsibility.
Child Protection Policies provide guidelines for organisations and their staff to create a safe environment for children. They are a tool that protect children and the workforce by defining clearly what action is required in order to keep children safe, and that all staff follow the same, consistent process in order to achieve this.

The Vulnerable Children’s ...

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