The Great Fish & Chip Incident of 2007
It is important in business, as it is in life, to read the small print. This is also true when you are signing employment agreements.
I say this to lead into a public apology that I feel obligated to make following the Cottage Kindergarten’s disco and fish and chip night.*
ACC for Employers
It is well established that Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) law and the intricate process in which it operates can be a very difficult system for employers and claimants to navigate. Consequently when an employee is off work with an ACC-covered injury, an employer can find themselves a bit lost.
Given that many Employers need help covering the basics here are some commonly asked questions regarding ACC that could make your life easier.
Protecting your business from IT scams
Recent ransomware attacks have highlighted the need for businesses and their employees to be alert for IT threats and scams.
The WannaCry ransomware attack managed to hold over 220 000 computers hostage around the globe.
Who is recording you?
Under the Crimes Act, it is a crime to record a private conversation that you are not a party to. The offence requires you to deliberately record people in conversation who believe that they have an expectation of privacy.
It is not, however, an offence to record a conversation that you are a party to. Despite this, the legality of recording conversations where only one party knows they are being recorded does get hazy in the employment sphere.
Dismissed for taking a muesli bar from a kid
Mr E was employed at a supermarket as a ‘loss prevention officer’ from November 2012. My interpretation of this job is like a security officer for food. Personally I’m not sure I could sit and watch people buy food all day, I’d get jealous. One of the required tasks of Mr E’s role was to monitor the cameras that overlook the self-checkout area to ensure customers were actually paying for the products.
The employee noticed a child in the self-checkout area eating a muesli bar, which he thought had come from the store. He called the supervisor in charge of the checkout on the floor to inform her of what he had seen. Mr E maintained that to do this was common practice and consistent with the training he had received. Seems like the logical thing to do, right? However upon being approached by the supervisor, the customer said she felt as though she was being accused of theft and made a complaint. As it turns out she had scanned the barcode for a box of muesli bars, and simply given the kid one.
