The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) now has powers to apply stand down periods on employer incurs penalties relating to employment standards. These powers are there to protect migrant workers from exploitation. This group of employees enjoy the same legal protection as domestic workers but are more vulnerable due to the reliance on…
The skilled migrant category changes bring an income threshold for applications under the Skilled Migrant residence category. For a role to be considered skilled, it must have a salary that matches the New Zealand median income of $48,859 a year. This change has allowed Immigration New Zealand to recognise that some jobs that might not…
Recent rule changes to the Essential Skills Work Visa category have added new barriers to overcome in order an application approved. The biggest change is the introduction of salary bands, which are determined by the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). These salary bands bring with them varying privileges including the length…
Solicitor Michelle Urquhart was interviewed recently on her views in relation to the recent changes. Read the story here.
The minimum wage is set to increase on 1 April 2016. The order increases the minimum rates of pay for adult workers, starting-out workers, and trainees. The new minimum hourly rates of pay are as follows: $15.25 per hour for adult workers (increased from $14.75 per hour); and $12.20 per hour for starting-out workers and…
On 4 April 2016 the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 comes into force. This means that you only have two months to ensure that your business complies with the new legal requirements. We can help by: Reviewing your health and safety policy; Reviewing how you engage with employees about health and safety; Identifying…
On 13 August the Government introduced the Employment Standards Legislation Bill. In summary it: provides for stronger and more effective enforcement of employment standards such as the minimum wage and holidays entitlements; and extends parental leave and payments to more workers and increases the flexibility of the parental leave scheme; prohibits certain practices in employment…
A recent TVNZ story has highlighted the fact that some employers have begun encouraging staff not to take sick leave by giving them an end of year bonus. What it didn’t discuss is how to deal with employees who continue to come to work, despite being clearly unwell. Those employees often have genuine reasons for continuing to…
We now have some certainty about the future of health and safety law in New Zealand: on Friday the Transport and Industrial Select Committee finally reported back on the Bill. Five of the key changes to the Bill (some of which had been well-rehearsed in the media) include: Employers must still engage with employees and…
An Employment Standards Bill will be introduced to Parliament later in 2015 with measures to prevent unfair employment practices. To read the full statement from Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse, click here.