Insurance - Intentional Damage update
Late last year I wrote an article about the Court of Appeal decision in Holler v Osaki (Osaki). The ongoing application of this decision by the Tenancy Tribunal (Tribunal) had become rather controversial as the decision had not clarified what “intentional damage” meant.
Mitigation & Contribution (Part 2)
My last article addressed a recent decision of the Employment Court which examined both mitigation of loss and contribution. As I said the implications of the decision, in terms of contribution, would be discussed in a later article; this article.
The Employment Relations Act requires the Authority or the Court (whichever is hearing the claim) to consider contribution. What this means is that after finding a claimant has a valid personal grievance the Authority or Court must then (and the word “must” is used, meaning this is mandatory) go on to look at whether, although the dismissal or action was unjustified, the employee contributed to the situation. If so, what does this mean in terms of remedies?
Witness Intimidation
It sounds like the plot of a bad movie. Retail assistants rat on cheapskate boss. Boss hires local gang members to pay them a visit and “suggest” they should withdraw their case. Coming soon to a cinema near you!
Except this actually happened. In real life. In 21st Century New Zealand.
Mitigation & Contribution (Part 1)
For any employment dispute which proceeds to hearing (whether before the Employment Relations Authority or the Employment Court) two issues will always arise for any ex-employee seeking to establish a grievance for unjustified dismissal. Mitigation of lost wages and contribution.
Up until the end of last year there had been numerous comments by both the Authority and the Court about mitigation and contribution. However, there lacked a “watershed” decision which really brought together all the principles and clearly articulated how those issues need to be addressed. Thankfully, at least for those of us who practice in the employment law area, a single decision of the Employment Court has addressed both topics in depth.
Volunteers – who are they and what should you be aware of?
A very recent decision by the Chief Judge of the Employment Court has been very useful at setting out the rules surrounding who is and who is not a volunteer for the purposes of assessing rights and obligations around minimum employment entitlements.
The case, which revolved around a camping ground in the Tauranga region, examined the status of a person who provided services to the owners of the camping ground in return for a very small cash payment and a waiver of camping fees.
