“Brian,” the boss addresses him as he sits down at the boardroom table. “We need to have a chat about your future at XYZ Limited.” Brian’s face goes white. He imagined he’d have another 20 years left at XYZ. At least another five, until he had broken the back of
Plenty of New Zealand employers think the law is too “employee-friendly”. They cite cases where employees were surely at fault, but came away with big awards because the employer stuffed up the dismissal process. “How can that be fair?,” they wonder. They go on to assume that it doesn’t matter
Awards of compensation for hurt and humiliation have tended to be low in the past. That is particularly so in relation to claims for unjustified disadvantage. But in the right case, even compensation for a disadvantage claim can be significant – as a recent judgment from the Employment Court has
KiwiSaver is a great scheme for getting Kiwis to save. After a decade we’re already saving billions collectively. The success of the scheme lies in making saving automatic. Contributions get paid because employers make the payments on their employees’ behalf. But what does it cost you as an employer? And
Many employers want to reward employees for outstanding achievements. One way to do that is to give your staff a bonus – to provide an incentive for higher levels of performance. Time and again, I see great intentions to begin with. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always play out as intended. Either it
Personal grievances come in more than one flavour. The most common one you hear about is the personal grievance for unfair dismissal. But did you know there are nine other types of personal grievance under New Zealand law? WHAT IS A PERSONAL GRIEVANCE ANYWAY? Before listing off the different types,
Did you know that the law requires you to do certain things when making an offer of employment? The law recognises there’s an imbalance of bargaining power between employers and employees. Employers hold all the cards, so to speak. So the idea is to make employers give employees a fair
Your boss just gave you a letter. It’s not good. The letter invites you to a meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Monday morning in the boardroom. They want to discuss allegations that are being made against you. They say they have evidence that you’ve misbehaved. You know this could turn
I’ve written before about what counts as a good reason to dismiss an employee. Those reasons include misconduct, poor performance, redundancy, and even incompatibility. But what if your employee is physically incapable of working? Medical incapacity may seem like a harsh reason to end someone’s employment. But it can be a
“You’re redundant.” Those aren’t the nicest words you’ll ever hear. But many people face redundancy from their jobs at least once in their careers. For some, going through the restructuring process is harrowing enough. But to actually lose your job through no fault of your own, that’s another level. Your
