New Zealand

Higher awards to successful claimants can be expected following commentary in the Employment Court that compensation awards have not kept pace with inflation and that they should be set higher than they have been: (Hall v Dionex Pty Ltd [2015] NZEmpC 29; Campbell v The Commissioner of Salford School [2015] NZEmpC 122).

New Zealanders’ confidence in the state of the labour market has decreased, citing low wage growth as the primary concern. This data is measured by the Westpac McDermott Miller employment confidence index, which fell 5.7 points to 102.8 in the June quarter, the lowest in two years.

The Health and Safety Reform Bill, due for enactment in April 2015 has been delayed again. One issue causing the delay is the Government’s consideration of potential corporate manslaughter provisions. The Bill is now expected to come into force early 2016.

The Court of Appeal will review the question of whether a person providing relief support for a full-time carer of a disabled family member is entitled to minimum wage payments and associated benefits and payments such as holiday pay.

A recent decision of New Zealand’s Employment Relations Authority demonstrates that an employer must be very conscious of whether an employee is “working” overnight (and therefore entitled to be paid) when the employee works and lives on site. This issue arises out of “sleepover” cases over the last 2 to 3 years in which employees […]

In early 2014, there were two important decisions by the Employment Court (Brake and Totara Farms) that indicated that an employer’s decision to make a role redundant was likely to be examined far more closely by the courts than in the past. L&E Global New Zealand recommended employers make sure that any business/financial reasons put forward […]

SBM Legal’s April 2015 Newsletter highlights important legal trends including: Changes to the ERA from 6 March 2015 Update on equal pay litigation Tripartite employment relationships Redundancy – Clarification from Appeal Court