News & Articles

Planned Employment Law changes: remedies removed for at-fault employees

Removal of rewards for at-fault employees In a recent article, we discussed planned changes to the Employment Relations Act 2000 (“the Act”) which would see high-income earners barred from raising…

New rules for whistleblowers from 1 July

Significant changes are being made in New Zealand workplaces to better protect whistleblowers. The Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022 is set to replace the Protected Disclosures Act 2000…

Inheritance law is under review

In 2019 the Government instructed the Law Commission to review inheritance law in New Zealand which is currently governed by a combination of acts including the Family Protection Act of…

New rules for residential development in Tauranga are coming

The Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021 is now in effect and requires Tauranga City Council to adopt new rules from 20 August 2022 to…

Gloriavale employment court decision raises the question, who is an employee?

This week the Employment Court handed down a landmark decision relating to three former members of the Gloriavale Christian community. While this case might seem extreme or unusual it is…

Weaponizing personal grievances – is it time to rethink employment claims in New Zealand?

For a long time, employers in New Zealand have complained of ‘shake-down’ type claims, where a disgruntled former employee raises a personal grievance which has very little prospect of success,…

Free legal advice not always the best advice

Perhaps you have a lawyer for a friend. Or, maybe your gym buddy’s friend’s cousin’s boyfriend’s aunt is a lawyer. It may be tempting to ask for free legal advice.…

Hamish Murray - Property Lawyer - Sharp Tudhope

Ghosting – the weird dating phenomenon hits the business world

As a 45 year old male, happily married with two children, I was unfamiliar with the concept of ghosting until recently. My middle-aged mind had logically assumed it was some…

Income insurance scheme proposed to protect workers and benefit business

The government is consulting on the proposed New Zealand Income Insurance Scheme. The scheme would see workers who are made redundant or who have to stop working because of a…

Employee isolation – Employer obligations updated

With New Zealand now in the Covid-19 traffic light system, employers want certainty in relation to leave entitlements and payments for employees that must isolate. To understand what entitlements employees…