19 May 2017
By Katherine McDonald, Solicitor.
It’s no secret that New Zealand has one of the worst health and safety records in the developed world. In 2017 there have already been 16 workplace fatalities in New Zealand. However on the upside, as a whole, there has been significant developments in workplace health and safety in the five years since the Pike River tragedy. We now have a new regulator (Worksafe), new legislation (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015) and attitude and behaviour in workplace health and safety has improved considerably by employees, employers and directors alike.
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12 May 2017
By Katherine McDonald, Solicitor.
The 90 day trial period has been available to all employers since April 2011 and we are repeatedly seeing errors by employers in applying it correctly.
Put simply, if an employee is properly dismissed using a 90 day trial provision they cannot take a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal.
Though it sounds reasonably straight forward if any part of the trial period dismissal is incorrect, even if only minor, the employee may be able to bring a personal grievance against the employer.
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31 March 2017
By Katherine McDonald, Solicitor.
Time and time again we are reading on the news, revelations of sexual abuse of children by adults entrusted to their care. The stories we read have involved children in all types of settings; schools, sports, church and many other after school activities. It is not unusual for athletes and adults to tolerate years of abuse before coming forward which is highlighted by the recent investigation by the British Football Association of widespread sexual abuse where up to 98 clubs have been affected in the investigations.
Research, and recent high profile cases like Christchurch caretaker Robert Burrett, and even as far away as Jimmy Saville, show that abusers tend to seek out positions of authority and trust that bring them close to children. This requires us to work out what is to be done to protect children from this and other forms of abuse. That’s why the mandatory safety checks under the Vulnerable Children’s Act 2014 are so important.
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17 March 2017
By Katherine McDonald, Solicitor.
It is highly likely a lot of us can recall a time where we would have loved to have unleashed a tirade of expletives at specific people in the workplace in the heat of the moment.
Thankfully however, the lessons learned from reading The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama (highly recommended) have stopped me in my tracks most of the time!
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