Protecting your inheritance from your spouse or partner
How do I protect my inheritance from my spouse or partner? Sometimes we are lucky enough to receive a gift or inheritance from family members, either while they are alive…
Welcome to the Sharp Tudhope Lawyers’ blog. Here you will find topical information and advice relating to a wide range of areas of law, written by our legal experts.
Legal advice you can trust from a team with deep connections to our community.
How Do You Store Personal Information?
If you use spreadsheets to track employee, customer, contractor or supplier information, you are opening yourself up to error and possibly breaching your obligations under the Privacy Act 1993, Privacy Commissioner John Edwards says. In data breaches involving spreadsheets reported to the Privacy Commissioner, the numbers of individuals affected per breach has ranged from dozens…
“You’re Fired” – We’re Closer To It Than We Realise
Employers often complain that it is “too hard” to get rid of staff, and say it is a procedural nightmare. We wondered how New Zealand compares to other countries. Luckily for us, the OECD has released its ranking of employment protection (how hard it is to fire someone) across the OECD. The factors considered were:…
Drastic Changes To New Zealand’s Health And Safety Law
6 things EVERY business needs to know Each year 1 in 10 workers are harmed and more than 200,000 claims are lodged with ACC. Current legislation focuses on passive compliance and has allowed a culture where companies can create health and safety policies; train their staff, and consider their jobs done. The “Health and Safety…
Changes To Policy Mean Existing Business Visa Holders May Miss Out When Applying For Residence
There have been some new residence criteria introduced by Immigration New Zealand which may impact on Long Term Business Visa (LTBV) holders. Where there has been a change in policy, immigration have previously allowed applicants on a pathway to residence not to be disadvantaged by new policy. With the present changes, Immigration New Zealand have…
Government Consulting On Reform To Health And Safety Law
The forestry and farming industries continue to be high hazard industries despite their importance to our economy. Each year 1 in 10 workers are harmed and more than 200,000 claims are lodged with ACC. Our current health and safety system is comprised of: The Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (“HSE Act); Various supporting…
Update On Proposed Entrepreneur Work Visa
The “Latest News” section on Immigration New Zealand website says full details of the proposed Entrepreneur Work Visa will be made public before March 2014 …please see the following extract: “ What are the details of the new visa? When will more information about this new visa be available? The detailed criteria for the new…
Changes Coming To The Employment Relations Act
Changes coming to the Employment Relations Act – The Employment Relations Bill was recently reported back from select committee and looks likely to pass into law later this year. The Bill is intended to make a number of changes to the 2000 Act, including: Clarifying what an employer must disclose as part of its duty of…
Earthquake-Prone Buildings And The Health And Safety Act
How does this affect you? Under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (HSEA), employers and owners of buildings which are places of work must identify and manage hazards in the place of work. This includes building-related hazards. Building owners must also meet the requirements of the Building Act 2004. This includes standards for…
Goodbye Long Term Business Visa
December 20th 2013 was the last day for submission of Long Term Business Visa applications. The replacement Visa (to be called Entrepreneur Work Visa) will not be introduced before March 2014. The New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment reported in its December newsletter to members that Immigration New Zealand’s delay in introducing the…