News & Articles

The on-going Uber Dispute: The ball is now in the Supreme Court… or is it?

How the Uber case and a proposed ‘gateway test’ could reshape contractor law This article follows our earlier update on the Court of Appeal’s ruling that four Uber drivers were…

Sharp Tudhope’s newest lawyers

Congratulations to Meg Skilton and Kate Bennett who were admitted to the bar at the High Court in Tauranga on Friday 5th August. The admission ceremony is a culmination of…

Failing to comply with minimum employment standards costly for employer

A recent Employment Relations Authority (ERA) hearing has found that a Dunedin bakery owner failed to pay its three employees correct wages, sick leave and holiday pay. The workers employed…

Parental leave payments to increase from 1 July

From today, eligible employees will receive an increase in the maximum weekly payment from $621.76 to $661.12 per week gross. The 6.33% increase is in line with the rise in…

Retirement village framework policy review proposed

A recent CFFC (Commission for Financial Capability) White Paper has proposed a complete policy review of the retirement villages framework which has not taken place since the Retirement Villages Act…

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,…