Mike Johnson
Posts by Mike Johnson for Keeping you posted
Interesting Court Cases
Can you move your business and force an employee to travel further? Just how much may the Courts fine if we just have a minor procedural flaw in a termination? Can you deduct from a final pay where the employee has not given any notice? ... for answers
Harmful Digital Communications
Harmful Digital Communications became a criminal offence in 2016. Be careful any online content you host does not allow for this.
Penalties for breach of Minimum Standards
Two companies were fined $100,000 for breaching minimum wages and leave record requirements. If in doubt check in with us - better a $50 phone call than a $50,000 fine!
New Law affecting Retail workers
If you operate a Retail activity and wish to employ someone to work on Easter Sunday you must understand the new laws affecting this. You cannot in any way require them to work this day - but have to give them the choice of not working - it's tougher than a Stat day.
Medical Termination
Terminating employment for medical reasons is challenging for all involved, so before you can do this you need to have attempted everything reasonable to get the person back to work. There are tried and tested paths for this, and they need to be worked on early.
Pay as you go – Holiday Pay
Paying 8% holiday pay as you go may seem easy and avoid having to give leave - but if a contract goes over 12 months it can cost you - actual paid leave in addition.
90-day Trial – yet again!
90-day trial clauses must indicate when they start. And if done right this can be after completion of a pre-employment test.
Protecting Wages - complying with the law
Recent law changes have highlighted the need to comply with the Wages Protection Act and it is starting to bite - a Wellington Grocer has had to pay $53,000.
Paying Annual Leave as you go
A recent Court case has highlighted the need to only pay for leave as you go in certain situations - when your employee is employed fixed term for less than…
Complying with the Health and Safety at Work Act
This law takes effect on 4 April. If you have not yet done so, you should update your system. For effective systems this should not be too difficult - checklist below. You could make it part of an annual review of the system.