June 2021 It is no secret that New Zealand is in the midst of a housing crisis. The housing crisis has been well documented in the media and has been a key political issue as successive Governments have searched for ways to create affordable rental housing and make homeownership an achievable proposition for New Zealanders.… Read More.
Minimum wage increase in effect from 1 April 2021 June 2021 On 1 April 2021 the Adult Minimum Wage increased to $20.00 per hour, and the Starting Out Minimum Wage and Training Minimum Wage increased to $16.00 per hour (being 80% of adult rate). It is recommended that employers regularly review their payroll systems and… Read More.
March 2021 There can be no doubt that all employers have a duty to provide conditions of employment that allow people to be, and stay, healthy. However, there is no cut and dried demarcation when it comes to the question of whether an employer can make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for its employees. This is… Read More.
March 2021 The new Privacy Act came into force on 1 December 2020, providing a modified (and in certain respects more onerous) regime governing the collection, storage and use of information about identifiable individuals (referred to in the Act as ‘personal information’). In particular, the new Act requires any entity or person who holds personal… Read More.
March 2021 The days of smoking inside a crowded bar, in airplanes or in the work lunchroom are long gone. While smokers were pushed outside in the 1990s for the safety of others, New Zealand has been undecided until recently on how to treat people who vape. Employers are obliged to take all reasonably practicable… Read More.
March 2021 Unit titles are becoming more popular and more complex as we see limited greenfield space available for housing, and limited funding for greenfields infrastructure, making infill an easier and more efficient land use option. This article looks at the basics of forming a unit title development from a fee simple section. Creating a… Read More.
March 2021 2020 was a challenging year for employers with the COVID-19 alert level restrictions, concerns about workplace safety and continued confusion about the application of the Holidays Act 2003. In this article we will address some trends we have seen in recent Employment Law cases and take a look at what issues we are… Read More.
March 2021 Paper roads There are thousands of roads situated throughout rural New Zealand that have never been physically formed and may never be. This is particularly the case in rural areas, where there are significant stretches of unformed roads running through farmland, better known as paper roads. Although paper roads are unformed, they are… Read More.