New Law Protects Employees’ Right To Discuss Pay
In a move towards workplace equity, the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill (“the Bill”) has now come into force. The Bill seeks to protect employees who choose to (voluntarily) discuss or disclose their own remuneration. Its central goal is to ensure that workers can share information about their pay, if they wish, without fear of […]
Testing the Limits of Collective Bargaining in New Zealand
A recent legal dispute between The Athletes’ Cooperative Inc (“TAC”) and High Performance Sport New Zealand Ltd (“HPSNZ”) has tested the outer limits of New Zealand’s collective bargaining framework under the Employment Relations Act 2000 (“the Act”). The case, which journeyed from the Employment Relations Authority up to the Court of Appeal, highlights the importance […]
Responding to Employee Privacy Requests
A Practical Guide for Employers f you’re an employer, you may at some point receive a request from an employee, or ex-employee, asking to access the personal information you hold about them. These requests are made under the Privacy Act 2020 (“Privacy Act”), which governs the collection, holding, use and disclosure of personal information. Whilst the […]
Managing Medical Incapacity in the Workplace
A Guide for Retail Employers In retail, staff absences can have an immediate impact on customer service, rosters, and team morale. Prolonged employee absences due to illness or injury present legal and operational challenges. In cases where there is uncertainty about whether an employee can return to work, employers may need to assess whether the […]
Reform of the Holidays Act: What Employers Should Expect
On 23 September 2025, the Government announced it will repeal the Holidays Act 2003 and replace it with a new Employment Leave Act. According to Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden, the reforms are intended to bring simplicity, transparency and fairness to leave entitlements for both employees and employers. The existing Act has […]
When can you require an employee to be on-call for work, and when must they be compensated?
Compensating an employee for working additional hours is a tricky part of the law to navigate. In the past, employers could require employees to be available for work but not pay them for it. Availability provision amendments came into force in 2016 to combat waged workers with ‘zero hour’ contracts who were required to be […]
Court takes Uber for joyride: but Government pulls the handbrake
The Court of Appeal has found four drivers were employees of Uber when they were logged into the Uber driver app. While Uber was successful in its challenge to the approach taken by Chief Judge Inglis of the Employment Court, the Court of Appeal agreed the result reached was correct. This is a landmark decision, […]
Employment Court widens the definition of gross earnings – Employers beware
Payments may now be part of ‘gross earnings’ despite being labelled ‘discretionary’ and as such be liable for inclusion in the calculation of holiday pay. Gross earnings provide the basis on which an employer calculates an employee’s annual holiday pay. If an employer does not get this calculation right based on a misunderstanding of what […]
Redundancy – Don’t Jump the Gun!
The Employment Relations Authority’s recent decision in Buckingham v St John (“Buckingham”) serves as reminder for employers to ensure their redundancy policies and procedures are sound. What started with some “minor procedural inadequacies” on behalf of employer St John led to an unfortunate misunderstanding with employee, Ms Buckingham, regarding the redundancy package set out in her employment […]
COVID-19 vaccinations in the workplace: Obligations for Employers (Part 1)
Introduction: New Zealand’s vaccination rollout has gathered pace with approximately 782,000 Kiwi’s now fully vaccinated. As vaccination rates increase with the availability of the Pfizer vaccine (Vaccine) and the anticipated easing of some border restrictions, a number of questions from employers and employees will arise about their obligations and rights when it comes to workplace […]