Articles

Decisions, decisions, decisions

I find Simon Sinek profoundly irritating. Those of you who have been exposed to him know that he has obtained a cult following on the Internet. If you have not been exposed to Simon then I am not encouraging you to look him up.

I have been forced to take to my dictaphone about this latest quote that came across my Linkedin page “There is no such thing as a good or bad decision”.

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Employment Obligations - Time for a Warrant of Fitness

The fact that dairy farm workers, in particular, often work longer hours than usual over spring makes it important for farmers to be vigilant during this time in ensuring they meet their legal obligations. We have written articles that have addressed this very point on a number of occasions. But the issue continues to rear its head.

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Process, process. process

Even terrible employees and those acting in clear breach of company policy are entitled to a fair dismissal process. Yet another decision from the Employment Relations Authority reminds us that when it comes to employment law the golden rule is process, process, process.

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Stick to your knitting, it's safer

WorkSafe has issued a warning to farmers to refrain from attempting to harvest woodlots on farms themselves. Whilst it can be tempting to save a few dollars by cutting down your own trees, the reality is most farmers are not trained in commercial woodlot harvesting.

Many farms all over the country have small woodlots that are coming up to harvestable age. Most of these woodlots are planted on steep terrain and require experienced forestry professionals to safely harvest the trees. Unfortunately, there have been incidences of farmers attempting to manually fell woodlots with chainsaws themselves. This is a recipe for disaster.

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I hereby offer you employment

By law, good faith behaviour is required when entering into individual employment agreements. The essence of the obligations imposed on employers by the Employment Relations Act 2000 is to provide employees with the necessary rights to address the imbalance in bargaining power between them and the employer.

Often overlooked are the obligations on employers when offering employment to prospective employees. Let’s consider what must be done.

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