April 2017

I am commonly asked whether restraint of trade provisions which seek to govern an employee’s conduct post-termination, are valid and enforceable. My answer is always the same – such provisions are void…. “unless they are proved to be reasonably necessary to protect a proprietary interest of the former employer”. However, some of you also wonder […]

Are you an aggrieved employee thinking of raising a grievance? Or, are you an employer worried that an ex-employee will not go quietly? If the answer to either of these questions is “yes” then how important is the statutory 90-day rule to you? For those of you who have no idea what I am referring

I am often asked by employers whether they can enforce post-termination obligations against a departing employee. Understandably, many employers feel the need to safeguard the legitimate interests of their business and for that reason will insert restraint of trade provisions into their template individual employment agreement regardless. In truth, these provisions rarely are enforceable and

Many employers are probably unaware that the laws of New Zealand permit the Employment Court to consider an alternative type of claim – commonly the “disadvantage grievance” (more formally known as a “Section 122”), even if this type of claim has not been raised by the applicant. In fact, many applicants are probably not even

Finally, the Employment Relations Authority provides some well-needed clarity on what it believes constitutes a “fair and reasonable” redundancy process. In Jarrett v Bio-Cell (NZ) Limited, the Authority sets out strict legal principles to be adopted by employer’s when embarking on a redundancy process. So, for those of you looking to reduce overheads, please read

In a recent Authority decision, it was made clear to one restaurant owner that “ignorance and disregard [of the law] is no excuse”. Following on from the government’s proposal to reinforce national minimum standards in the employment arena, Michael Woodhouse (Workplace Relations & Safety Minister) expressed concern that many employees were missing out on their