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Reducing Employees wages/salary - and Gov. Covid-19 wages subsidy scheme
Ani Bennett, April 2020
Be aware! As an employer you cannot automatically reduce an employee's wages/salary - you must follow a legal process first.
Even if you get the wage subsidy, that doesn't automatically mean you can reduce employee wages/salary overnight.
COVID-19: Helping Employers prepare for shutdown
Ani Bennett, March 2020
If you are required to cease operating or if there is no work, then you could, following consultation, terminate roles in reliance on a force majeure clause if you have one in the employment agreement. However, with the business support package announced by the Government, you may be able to agree with staff that they take annual leave, and then unpaid leave over the coming weeks.
What to do when you employ the whānau - Being a successful Māori employer in the 21st century
Ani Bennett, September 2015
Some of the future challenges for Māori Businesses as employers - 2030 the baby boomers retire, huge world-wide demand for skilled workers, labour planning will become more important than financial planning, Māori will make up around 20% of the working age population in NZ, those Māori businesses that nurture their employees will be the ones that flourish.
Huge changes ahead for health and safety
Ani Bennett, May 2014
New Zealand's biggest occupational health and safety reform in 20 years has taken its next step, with the Government calling for feedback on its 166-page discussion document outlining proposals for new health and safety regulations
The discussion document is called "Developing regulations to support Health and Safety at Work Act".
Managing the holiday break - turning off your cellphone
Ani Bennett, December 2013
Holidays offer your employees the chance to recharge their batteries and leave behind the stress and hassle of work, albeit for a short period.
When holiday time arrives, some employees may leave the office wondering how everyone is going to manage without them. Who is going to complete that urgent project and what if that potentially important client happens to call when they are away?
Change in the wind for redundancies
Ani Bennett, June 2013
In March 2013, the Employment Court issued a game changing decision - Totara Hills Farm v Davidson. The Court signalled that it intends to look more closely at redundancies to determine whether there were "sufficient business reasons” for any restructure.
Previously the prevailing wisdom has been that it is not for the Court to substitute its decision for that of the employer in relation to business decisions.