Watermark Employment Law

05/06/2023

Watermark Employment Law is excited to announce Watermark Learning, a Certificate in Employment Relations Course developed and presented by specialist employment lawyer, Simon Greening. The course is a great opportunity for anyone working in HR to expand their knowledge and skills.

Watermark Learning aims to equip anyone working in human resources or employment relations with practical tools and valuable legal insights to navigate common workplace issues.

Key Information:
Dates: June 20th and 21st, 2023
Time: 9:00am to 1:00pm (two consecutive mornings)
Location: Cliftons Auckland, Level 4, 45 Queen Street, Auckland Central or participate online through Zoom.
Course Fee: $590 + GST per participant (in person)

For more information and to register for the course follow the link below:
https://www.watermarkemploymentlaw.co.nz/watermark-learning/

If you have any questions about the course not answered by the link below, you can contact Jonathan (Practice Manager) directly at:
[email protected]

16/05/2023

Redundancy can be tricky to navigate - a recent case from the Employment Court highlights some common mistakes employer's often make, even when there is a commercial justification for the decision.

Simon Greening discusses New Zealand Steel Limited v Haddad in this brief article.

A recent decision of the Employment Court: New Zealand Steel Limited v Haddad [2023] NZEmpC highlights a redundancy mistake that employers often make as part of a redundancy process. The Court made an important point at [62](c):“When considering an employer’s decision not to redeploy an employee...

16/05/2023

The job market is on the brink of transformation with the advancement of AI. But what does it mean for redundancies?

Jonathan provides a concise overview of redundancies and sheds light on their crucial handling in the face of AI development.

With advancements in technology, many employees are concerned about AI development creating redundancies in the future.

06/10/2022

Do you feel your restraint of trade is unfair?

Changes to legislation have been proposed that will toughen the rules around restraints of trade and their enforceability, drawing a clear line between when a restraint of trade is lawful.

Our Associate Kylie Hudson concisely outlines the key changes.

https://www.watermarkemploymentlaw.co.nz/blog-posts/restraint-of-trade-amendment-bill/

The Restraint of Trade Amendment Bill, if passed, would significantly narrow the circumstances where restraints of trade can be used.

19/09/2022

Can you be dismissed under a mask mandate if you have a mask exemption?

Although mask mandates seem to be on their way out, the Employment Relations Authority was recently presented with this issue and indicated that there is a strongly arguable case that this would be an unjustified dismissal.

Jonathan summarises the decision below.

The Authority determined CAE did have an arguable case of unjustified dismissal, with some aspects quite strongly arguable in its opinion.

06/09/2022

Watermark now has a practice manager — Jonathan Charlton.

We are pleased to announce that Jonathan Charlton has recently accepted the role of Practice Manager at Watermark.

With the firm growing and more moving parts the need for a Practice Manager has arisen – Jonathan has stepped into this role, alongside his existing role as Senior Solicitor.

As Practice Manager Jonathan will be the first point of contact for new clients, as well as managing a number of operational matters and connecting with our charitable partners. Jonathan remains a qualified Senior Solicitor and practising Lawyer – he will continue assisting a number of clients, particularly our retainer clients, with urgent and specialist matters from time to time.

Watermark is in a strong position with the addition of Jonathan’s new role.

06/09/2022

The Watermark Way is Watermark's monthly newsletter.

Here you can keep up to date with all things Watermark as well as have employment law broken down into easy tips for employers.

If you'd like to sign up — see the link below.

Watermark Employment Law Email Forms

02/09/2022

Employment Law Basics — Trial Periods.

Trial periods are the unique exception where an employer does not have to provide reasons for dismissing an employee.

However, the trial period must be valid and the the process followed to the ‘T’ for the courts to uphold it.

See Andreas latest blog on trial periods or swipe right for the three big considerations for whether a trial period is valid.

26/08/2022

The concept of a 'cooling off period' used to mean employers had to allow employees time to rescind their resignations made in the 'heat of the moment.' But new case law is indicating where the employee has objectively resigned there is no legal obligation to ‘hold off’ recognising that resignation.

Jonathan's short read explains it all.

The issue is if, objectively, the employee has resigned. If so, there is no legal obligation to ‘hold off’ recognising that resignation.

19/08/2022

Introducing Andrea de Stadler Watermark’s newest solicitor.

Having come from an employment law background, Andrea brings an experienced hand, a kind disposition and a sharp mind to each case. Andrea is well equipped to serve clients and extend Watermark’s vision.

Swipe right to see Andrea’s thoughts on affordable justice.

12/08/2022

It's tricky for an employer to know where the line is between saving costs on hiring an employee and what is deemed passing an employee off as an independent contractor to escape employment obligations.

The Wang v Hungry Panda decision (a company that is a mandarin version of Uber Eats) helps draw it down to four key takeaways.

Employers often hold the wrong assumptions when hiring an independent contractor. Below are four important takeaways to learn from.

20/07/2022

Finding a well-paying job within your skillset takes time. The Government is proposing relieving some of the financial pressure to get back to work quickly for those made redundant with 7-months of bridging payments. Have a read of our overview of the Income Insurance Scheme below.

The proposed scheme would increase the cost of redundancy or other no fault exit, influencing the business’s final decision on redundancy.