For a free document on wage and time records, you can visit the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website. This information is not a substitute for legal advice, and we recommend that you visit or call before acting on the material you have read.

If you or your business has a claim before the Authority, we can help by providing you with representation to a highest standard. We have experience in the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court covering legal issues including dismissals, interim injunctions, jurisdictional issues, and trial period challenges.

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We can also provide expert advice on all aspects of other legislation relating to the employment relationship. This can include payroll calculations, parental leave advice and much more.

Before hiring anyone new, you must provide an Employment Agreement. If you want to rely on a trial period clause, it is essential that meet certain conditions including ensuring the employment agreement is signed and returned before they start working.

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We can create up-to-date employment agreements tailored to suit your business needs and compliant with New Zealand law. It may be tempting to use one of the free Employment Agreement templates available online, however, they generally don’t reflect the actual conditions at your workplace and do not help you manage the more difficult aspects of employment relationships. A tailored Employment Agreement will help you manage and negotiate potential employment issues before they become disputes.

If an employee is not doing their job, or performing poorly in relation to their employment agreement, this may be a performance issue. There are both informal and formal processes to manage performance issues. If you have issues with poor performance with your staff, we can help advise on how to address any issues involving allegations of misconduct and issues around employee performance.  If you want to discipline an employee for misconduct, then you must have a good reason for taking the action.

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Employers must follow the principles of a fair process. Usually, processes for disciplinary action (including warnings or dismissal) will be written in the employment agreement or workplace policies. If there is no agreed procedure to be followed, employers should use a careful, thorough, and fair process.

There are many reasons for wanting an employee to leave. Poor productivity, worrisome or disruptive behaviour, or incompatibility with your team culture are all valid, serious workplace behaviours that must be addressed. If dismissal is an appropriate solution, it must be handled properly.

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To prevent any challenges or personal grievance claims, you will have to justify your actions, in a way that proves the actions you took were what a fair and reasonable employer would have done under the circumstances. At Rachel Brazil Law, we can help you follow the correct process around employee dismissal or disciplinary action, protecting you and your business against disputes in the future.

The law requires your actions to be genuine and not driven by ulterior motives. Any decision to make positions and/or employees redundant is for you to make. But before you make that decision there are some critical steps you must take. If you take some but not all or worse none of them, then your actions probably will be unjustifiable.

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You must consult employees on the structural changes before they are finally decided upon and you are also expected to make a genuine effort to accommodate the views of your employees. We can help by advising you about the consultative steps you need to take, the information you must provide to employees, ensure proper notice of the restructure is given to employees, conduct the meetings with the employees, and advise you about the decisions to be made.

Collective bargaining is a legal process whereby one or more employers and a union to set up or renew a collective employment agreement and can involve negotiations around wages, working conditions, salaries, benefits, and other employment rights. We can use our extensive experience in this area of law to provide expert assistance with bargaining for collective employment agreements. Getting advice early can avoid disputes later on.

Realistic and pragmatic advice on personal grievance processes assessing litigation risk and the likelihood of success. We can assist you in managing the claim by advising you about the law, the processes, and the possible outcomes, representing you in discussions with the claimant’s lawyer and speaking on your behalf at mediation.

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The best way to deal with personal grievances from employees is to avoid them in the first place. At Rachel Brazil Law, we can provide you tailored advice if you wish to take certain actions against employees, such as termination, to ensure that you meet all the legal requirements. Personal grievances can be difficult, time-consuming, and costly for any business or employee. We can help reduce these concerns and focus on your desired outcomes.

We can assist with investigations in the workplace to avoid conflicts of interest and ensure an objective and thorough investigative process for your business. We can conduct independent investigations into sensitive, serious or complicated matters where the organisation may be seen as having a conflict or its independence may be challenged.

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There is a growing trend in New Zealand for complaints to be made to employers by other employees against their colleagues or by customers against the employees.

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It is sometimes tempting to ignore such complaints, but the legal duty on employers is to carry out a fair and transparent investigation or risk a personal grievance.