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Employers - follow the correct process

Saturday, May 05, 2012 by Mary-Jane Thomas, partner category Work to Rule

Ms K. was employed as a bus driver in Dunedin on a casual employment agreement. She claimed that she was unjustifiably dismissed. If she was a true casual it’s not clear to me why the employer, rather than dismissing her, simply did not offer her any more work. That is irrelevant because the employer chose to commence a disciplinary investigation after receiving an e-mail from a “concerned passenger” complaining about Ms K. acting suspiciously and raising concerns that money collected had not been put into the cash box.

At the disciplinary hearing Ms K. denied taking money.

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Don't Use Redunancy to Deal with Performance Issues

Saturday, April 28, 2012 by Mary-Jane Thomas, partner category Work to Rule

Wattan v Vine Tech Contracting Limited 21 July 2011 Loftus 2011 NZERA Christchurch 106

This case was recently been upheld by the Employment Court on appeal. The Applicant Mr W. claimed that he had been unjustifiably dismissed by his employer The employer accepted that it dismissed Mr W. but said that his position was surplus to its requirements and the dismissal was a justifiable redundancy.

As so often happens in these sort of cases, the parties’ relationship had become somewhat tortuous prior to the redundancy.

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Restraint of Trade Enforceability

Saturday, April 14, 2012 by Mary-Jane Thomas, partner category Work to Rule

The Employment Court recently upheld the decision of the Employment Relations Authority regarding the enforceability of a restraint of trade provision.

Two men were employed as Plant Managers by AFFCO. Both tendered their resignations. They had both accepted positions with Silver Fern Farms Limited - a competitor of AFFCO.

Both men had individual employment agreements with AFFCO and each agreement contained a restraint of trade clause which said that they would not engage or work on behalf of any organisation in direct competition with AFFCO for three months after the termination of their employment.

One of the men said that prior to signing his employment agreement when he was first employed he queried the restraint of trade provision and was told by a representative of the employer, Mr O, “don’t worry about it is all in the contracts but it is not worth the paper it is written on”.

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The Importance of Responding

Saturday, March 31, 2012 by Mary-Jane Thomas, partner category Work to Rule

We all ignore things that need to be done if we can’t bear the thought of it. The following sheets home that court directions should not be ignore.

A Swedish au pair (Miss Swiss) claimed that her former employers owed her money and had treated her in a manner that was unjustified and she was entitled to compensation for her hurt feelings.

There was an investigation meeting on 19 August. Miss Swiss appeared for herself as did Mr and Mrs D.

After the investigation hearing the Authority directed that the parties supply any further information that they wanted the Authority to consider.

Mr and Mrs D did not send the Authority any information.

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Environment Southland proposes new rules for dairy conversions

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 by Russell Ibbotson category Environment and Resource Management Law

Environment Southland (E/S) proposes to adopt policies and rules requiring new dairy conversions to obtain resource consent. These new rules are aimed at reducing the impact of dairy farming on the environment. They are an interim measure and come into force on 14 April next.

E/S has given notice that new policies and rules will be publicly notified on 14 April and will take effect immediately because they are intended to protect, or relate to, fresh water and fresh water quality.

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Same Facts, Different Outcome

Saturday, March 17, 2012 by Mary-Jane Thomas, partner category Work to Rule

I have recently read two decisions by the Employment Relations Authority (“ERA”) with strikingly similar facts that lead to different outcomes.

Mr A. was a longstanding employee for a company that provided product handling solutions. In early 2011 Mr A. turned up for work one morning only to be told that he was not required and that an earlier text had been sent to him to this effect. It just so happened that this day was a public holiday and therefore Mr A. later claimed half an hour for that day as well as a day in lieu.

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Predetermination

Saturday, February 18, 2012 by Mary-Jane Thomas, partner category Work to Rule

Every once in a while I read a case and ask myself “what were they thinking?” This is one of those cases. Ms D. worked for a company that cleaned at Dunedin Hospital under a contract with to the DHB. She had worked there as a cleaner for 15 years.

One morning Ms D. was outside a lift when it opened and a bed was pushed out. In her words “to my horror I realised that the person in the bed was deceased and that person was A. the Manager of the kitchen. I was shocked to see this because her face was not covered”.

Ms D. continued cleaning and when she got down to the kitchen area she blurted out to Ms K, whom she says she considered a friend, that A had passed away. That is all she said.

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Leadership

Saturday, February 04, 2012 by Brian Richardson, HR Adviser category Work to Rule

Lately we have been hearing a lot about leadership.

Every sporting team now seems to have a “leadership group” where they all help each other out and sing kumbaya on the way to a game whilst holding hands.

Leadership, in my opinion, is about setting a direction or setting an example that is a set of guiding principles for others to follow, to improve individual and group performance.

Every well performing organization has an underlying philosophy which encourages the good things that lead to excellent performance and improvement and which discourages poor performance and stagnation.

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After Hours Emails

Saturday, January 28, 2012 by Mary-Jane Thomas, partner category Work to Rule

In December 2011 the Brazilian government enacted a new law which means that employees who deal with e-mails out of normal work hours can now qualify for overtime.

With the new smartphone technology it used to be that having a company cell phone was a badge of honour, a real perk .Now for many workers it is an unwelcome intrusion, and the cause of much added work during “downtime.” Its not just employees either – how many “bosses” like me spent all their break still checking their incoming work emails on their cellphones just in case something arose that might need immediate attention.

This is not just an issue in Brazil but it has also arisen in other parts of the world.

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What traits do you look for when you employ someone?

Saturday, January 21, 2012 by Mary-Jane Thomas, partner category Work to Rule

I have been on medication for high blood pressure since I had my eldest boy eleven years ago.

I lost weight - still have it.

I exercise - still have it.

Tried boxing as a form of anger management - still have it.

Gave up smoking - still have it.

So must be my lifestyle - New Year’s resolution (may assist employers out there who also have high blood pressure):

1. Must be more tolerant. My mother has told me since I was young that I am intolerant - presumably this makes me lack patience.

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