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Hiring, Managing, and Firing Employees |
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If you don't employ staff, at some stage you will need to if you want to grow your business. Doing it right isn't made easy by NZ employment law. This section is divided up into hiring staff, managing staff and dismissing staff so it's easier to locate the article you need. |
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Some of the articles on this page are open to view, others are password protected. Only subscribers to this website can access the password protected articles. To subscribe hit the subscribe button on the left. If you are already a subscriber but have forgotten your password then email me by clicking here. |
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Hiring Staff |
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Why you must choose the right employment agreements for your staffMost business owners know that it is against the law not to have a written employment agreement with their staff. However, what many business owners don’t know is that there are 4 different types of agreement to choose from – and choosing the wrong one could land you in hot water as some business have found out to their peril. Click here to learn about the various different types of employment agreement |
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Why you can't just fire an employee at the end of a probationary periodBob was fed up with hiring the wrong staff. Twice he had his fingers burnt. The first time he ended up defending a personal grievance and the second time the employee in question made a number of very costly mistakes before eventually resigning. This time was going to be different: now Bob had an employment agreement which contained a 1 month probationary period. Click here to learn about the legality of probationary periods |
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Why not having a contractor agreement could cost you thousands of dollarsNormally a letter postmarked “Employment Relations Authority” would fill Peter with dread. But this time it could only be good news as Peter has successfully fended off a spurious claim brought by an ex-contractor who claimed he was an employee. The only outstanding issue was how much this contractor would be paying him in costs. Peter scanned the decision...everything looked good until he reached the final line. His heart sank: "$100!! That's not even half of my lawyer's hourly rate". Click here to find out how you can use contractor agreements to good effect |
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How to take the confusion out of independent contractor agreementsJake picked up the Friday newspaper and read the headline: “Bryson decision leaves film industry shaken”. The article went on to say that a recent decision of the new Supreme Court had overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal saying Mr. Bryson was an independent contractor and restored the decision of the Employment Court saying he was an employee. Click here to find out when you can use a contractor agreement and when you can't |
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Are you sure your employees don’t have criminal convictions?John knew that the accident could potentially ruin the business which he had slaved years to set up. But it wasn’t so much the accident itself which would cause his company the greatest harm but the police investigation which showed that his employee driver had been drinking moments before the crash.When John later discovered from an informant that Trevor had a previous criminal conviction for drink driving 8 years ago he felt cheated. Click here to find out why you need to be extra careful about criminal convictions when hiring staff |
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Why no employer should dismiss Kiwisaver as just another piece of red tapeAnna was on the verge of making a decision. "What are the benefits of joining your superannuation scheme and do you contribute?"Up to that point, the interview had been going really well. Anna was perfect for the role. Her CV stacked up and she was easy to get on with. The problem was a competing offer from John's main competitor. The offer was very slightly lower in terms of salary, but John's competitor was running a superannuation scheme in which it would contribute 4% of Anna's salary. In Anna's mind that was a much better package. Click here to learn why you shouldn't dismiss KiwiSaver as just another piece of red tape |
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How to use Kiwisaver to get ahead of your competitionAre you failing to attract the right people into your business, or are you losing valued employees to your competition? One of the fundamental principles of creating a great business, according to Jim Collins - author of Good to Great, is to get the right people on the bus (in other words, having the best employees). If you have the wrong employees, then you will never have a great business. Click here to learn how to use KiwiSaver to get ahead of your competition |
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What to do when you discover a job applicant hasn’t been totally upfrontFour months into the role and Jason realised that something wasn’t quite right. Andrea had interviewed well and her qualifications matched that of other applicants. But her work standards didn’t belie what she had said on her CV. When Jason rang the university he discovered it had taken her 5 attempts to pass her exams – something she didn’t disclose in her CV or in her interview. Now things were starting to add up: but what should he do? Click here to find out what you can do if a job applicant hasn't told the whole truth in an interview |
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New Government Changes Employment Legislation: but are your employment agreements primed to take advantage?Predictably, the incoming National government has made amendments to employment legislation and finally there is some good news for employers. However it is important that you are up to speed so that you can take advantage of the clauses. Your old employment agreements may let you down so it is important that you review them before the changes come into effect to make sure you are not left regretting you didn't read this article. |
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Managing Staff |
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Out of hours misconduct: your rights as an employerWith the Christmas party season now in full swing, what can you do as an employer if one of your employees becomes a bit too exuberant in his celebrations and puts your business in a bad light? Would you be justified in taking disciplinary action or is what the employee does out of hours none of your business? Click here to find out your rights as an employer when out of hours misconduct occurs |
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What to do when an employee pulls a 'sickie'Sick days were a regular occurrence for Jennifer. Never more than 3 days off at one time and always falling at inconvenient times for Martin. Martin had become suspicious a while ago and expected an improvement when Jennifer exhausted her statutory sick days. But the practice continued. What could Martin do? Click here to find out how to deal with an employee taking regualr sick days |
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Are your employees stealing from you?That was the issue in a recent criminal case heard in Whangerei. Watch this video of TVNZ's Close Up at 7 programme which explains the difficulties faced by employers in today's technological world. |
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Why your employees may be losing you businessAre your employees happy in their work? Or are they answering the phone to your customers as if someone had woken them from a deep sleep? As a result, are your customers going away with the impression that your business is as energetic as a tortoise? Your staff can be the windows to your business, but if they don’t allow your customers to see what’s really inside, then you could be losing sales. Click here to find out how to make sure your profits aren't sufferring due to your employees |
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How to act with good faith towards your employeesGood faith is not about going to Church every Sunday. No, it is about how you treat your employees and here is the bad news: what amounts to good faith changed in December 2004 when the Employment Relations (Amendment) Act 2004 became law. Prior to that good faith was some airy fairy concept dreamt up by Parliamentary legislators to even up the playing field between employers and employees and by employment lawyers to give weight to otherwise tenuous personal grievance claims (or is that just me being cynical?!). Click here to find out what the concept of good faith means for your business |
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How to amend your company's terms of employment without getting your employee's consent (and take that holiday you have always dreamed of)When Karen heard the news that the Company server had crashed she thought it would be up and running again in 10 minutes. Twenty four hours later Karen was counting the financial cost of a virus that had crept into their system from some private software application which an employee had loaded onto his company machine. Click here to find out how you can use employment policies to great effect |
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Audio File: Discrimination case raises concern for employersIf you want to download this audio to your PC to listen to later then right click here and choose "save as". |
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How to require your employees to go on holiday and avoid a huge wage billBill was a conscientious employee of MNO Investments but over the last 3-6 months he had started making stupid mistakes which were costing the company money. Those who worked with him were becoming concerned that he wasn’t looking well and wasn’t his usual happy, cheery self. There was speculation that there may be problems at home contributing to his present state. However, the main problem was at work and was one MNO could have avoided and at the same time saved them a lot of money. Click here to find out how you can require your employees to go on holiday |
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How to prevent your expertise falling into the wrong handsWidget Co were pretty confident that their Widget v. 10 would take the market by storm. Their competitors were at least 4 months behind in development of their latest version which gave Widget Co enough of a window of opportunity to saturate the market before their competitor’s launch.That was until their head designer announced he was leaving to work for their competitor in two weeks time. Are you adequately protected to prevent your expertise falling into the wrong hands? Are you sure your employment agreements are watertight? If not, read on. Click here to find out how to protect your expertise |
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How to protect your IP being stolen by your employeesHow would you feel if someone broke into your house and stole your TV, stereo, DVD player, furniture, CD collection and some very personal items of jewellery?Initially you would feel shock…then once that had passed, rage and an immense desire to bring the perpetrators to justice... and then regret that you didn’t install a burglar alarm.You get exactly the same feelings when an employee steals your intellectual property and sets up in competition down the road. Click here to find out how you can protect your business IP |
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Are you making the same mistakes as TVNZ in your business?“It is unfortunate that TVNZ could negotiate and conclude this binding legal agreement in such a casual fashion having regard to its standing in the community, as a large employer and the price of the contract. It ought to have taken far more care and attention in its drafting and negotiation especially of such a material clause. I do not impose any lesser standard on this employer that the Authority does on any other. The difference however, is that TVNZ is better resourced to comply with the very same obligations that all other employers face, the vast majority of which are small to medium sized businesses,” said Leon Robinson, Employment Relations Authority Member, after he decided that TVNZ could not reduce Susan Wood’s salary without her consent.Are your employment agreements watertight? Or will they land you in the Employment Relations Authority like TVNZ? To understand how TVNZ ended up in this mess (and prevent the same happening to you) read on. Click here to find out the mistakes TVNZ made with Susan Wood's employment agreement and how you can prevent the same happening in your business |
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How to make sure your employees do as they are toldWhen Alison came home to find hooks drilled into her bedroom floor, she learned never to leave her clothes on the floor again – a lesson that has stayed with her for the rest of her life.Employees can be just like children, you love them dearly, you don’t want to fire them, but at the same time you need them to do as they are told. Alison’s Dad has the answer all employers can learn from. Click here to find out how to make sure your employees do as they are told |
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How to take the employee worry out of buying a franchiseThe advantage of buying a franchise is that the franchisee’s business is packaged up and ready to go. But for many franchisees that creates a huge problem: on day one their staff turn up for work and the franchisee is expected to manage them. Equipped with little or no prior business experience, that can be a huge barrier to anyone considering buying a franchise and one which the franchisor must overcome.However, at Esquires we have been able to take the employment worry out of buying a franchise. Click here to learn how Esquires Coffee Shops took the employment worry out of buying a franchise |
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How to tell if a stress claim is genuineThe last thing any employer wants to see is a sick certificate claiming workplace stress. So when one landed on Dave's desk, the alarm bells started flashing. His first thought was an OSH visit and a possible fine. Then he wondered whether this was simply a ploy to divert attention from a performance management process he had started one week earlier. How could he tell? Click here to find out how to tell if a stress claim is genuine |
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Dismissing Staff |
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Why having a good reason to dismiss an employee may not save you from an employee claimTheir relationship had been deteriorating for some time. It stemmed from an inappropriate remark made by John at an office party last year about Geoff's current girlfriend which in a drunken haze seemed to find its way back to Geoff and her. So when Geoff heard that John had been arrested on Saturday night with a group of friends for being drunk and disorderly after a rugby game he seized his moment...Click here to find out the first essential to a justified dismissal |
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Are you making these mistakes when dismissing staff?Amanda produced the print outs from her time and attendance system and showed them to Kim. The printouts proved the Kim had consistently been turning up late for work as the weeks and months went on. Amanda then showed Kim the quarterly results which showed a decrease in profits consistent with Kim’s increasing lack of punctuality. Amanda knew something about employment law and realised that she must give Kim an opportunity to respond. However, in her own mind Amanda was decided. Click here to find out what amounts to a fair process |
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Will New Zealand follow Australia and restrict personal grievance claims?Listen to an interview where I give my predictions on whether New Zealand will follow John Howard's lead and restrict an employee's right to raise a personal grievance. Also includes discussion on dismissing an employee for non performance. Interview courtesy of Radio Rhema. |
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Why you should never accuse an employee of theftWhen the letter from the former employee's lawyer arrived in the mail raising a Personal Grievance, Martin was dumbstruck. He had video evidence of the employee taking money from the till and now that employee wanted compensation. So when Martin's lawyer advised that the employee may have a case, his blood really started to boil. Click here to find out why you should never accuse an employee of theft and what to do instead |
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How to avoid claims for unjustified dismissal when you sell all or part of your business" I have changed my mind – I only need 5 of your employees. The rest can go.” As these words came out of his buyer’s mouth it suddenly dawned on Carlo that he had made a huge mistake that could cost him thousands of dollars and eat into his sale profits. In just 3 days time 5 of his employees would lose their jobs and they were blissfully unaware. There was now no time for a redundancy process and he hadn’t even given them notice. Click here to find out why you must follow a procedure with your staff when you sell all or part of your business |
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Why you may not be able to enforce a reasonable restraint clauseWhen George heard that Alan had been calling up his clients, his first call was to his lawyer. George wasn't happy but he felt confident he could stop Alan in his tracks. However, despite having what he believed to be a reasonable non solicitation clause in Alan's employment agreement, his case wasn't as clear as he thought. Click here to find why you may not be able to enforce a reasonable restraint clause |
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Redundancy mistakes: How to avoid a PGIt is official (or soon to be): New Zealand is in a recession. That means many business owners will be looking to their overheads in an effort to see whether costs savings can be made. For many businesses the biggest overhead will be the wage bill, so that becomes an obvious target for streamlining. But with jobs not as easy to come by as in the good times, many more employees will be looking to challenge redundancies. Is your redundancy process open to challenge? Click here to learn what not to do when going about redundancies |
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