How would you feel if you had to delete all your LinkedIn connections when you left your job? Given the importance of online networks nowadays, it is worth considering whether your employer could ask you to do this. And while you might asking you to de-link yourself would be an
Here’s yet another way a trial period can go wrong. In a recent case before the Employment Relations Authority, an employer had done seemingly everything required to comply with the 90-day trial period law: they included a trial period clause in the agreements; they ensured that the agreements were fairly
A crucial element of a fair dismissal is that there are good grounds to dismiss. Employment lawyers like me tend to talk a lot about ensuring you have a fair process. Yet you can have a perfect process and still unfairly dismiss your employee if you didn’t have good reasons
One aspect of what it means to be a fair employer is allowing your employees to have support and advice during disciplinary meetings. But depending on the nature of the person who your employee has brought along with them, their presence can either: help the meeting go smoothly by supporting
We are swimming in digital conversations. Whether they be over text messages, instant messages, email messages, Facebook messages. They are part of our daily habits and routines. And we expect those means of communication to be accessible to us everywhere we go. Even at work. And that is where the
Getting paid to sleep? It seems too good to be true. But it’s no joke. Depending on where you sleep, and whether you have obligations as part of being at that place while you sleep, you may well be working while catching your z’s. How can sleeping be work? It
Record numbers of people are immigrating to New Zealand. If you run a business that is in constant need of more staff, that is great news for you. But when hiring for vacant roles, you must be careful to observe the laws about who can and cannot work here. In
“We’re restructuring.” It’s a phrase that you dread to hear as an employee. Its code for “You’re redundant”, you may think. You may have the unfortunate privilege of hearing that announcement several times during your career – perhaps even with the same employer. While it can be disconcerting to be
Meetings that are held to discuss whether or not an employee has misbehaved can be tense. The employee, on the one hand, is keen to avoid losing their job or facing any other disciplinary action. On the other hand, just as often, the employer is keen not to put a
None of us are perfect. We all know that. The trick is knowing where our imperfections lie. They can be difficult to see, unless someone else shows us. If your employees are unaware of their shortcomings, that can cause you deep distress. You may seethe at their failures. They may
