Pervinder Davies Law

07/09/2026

Have you ever looked at an alcohol licence application and thought, “I can probably do this myself”?

It’s understandable.

The forms are there. The information is available. And when you’re running a hospitality or alcohol retail business, there are plenty of things competing for your attention.

I recently spoke with someone who had decided to manage their own licensing application.

There was nothing wrong with that decision.

But as we talked through the application, a few things came up that weren’t immediately obvious from the forms themselves.

That’s the part of alcohol licensing that can be easy to underestimate.

Sometimes the issue isn't completing the application.

It’s knowing what to look for before you submit it.

Is there a compliance issue that needs to be addressed?

Is there something about the premises or operating model that could attract questions?

Are the proposed trading hours realistic?

Are the conditions appropriate for how you actually intend to operate?

Is there information that needs to be explained rather than simply provided?

And if an issue does arise, how do you deal with it before it becomes a bigger problem?

A good licensing adviser isn't there just to fill in forms or tell you what you already know.

They're there to help you see the issues you may not know to look for.

Whether you're applying for a new licence or renewing an existing one, having someone who understands the Act, the process, and the practical realities of licensing can make a significant difference.

Sometimes the real value of good advice is what doesn't become a problem later.

26/08/2026

1 in 3 premises failed a recent alcohol compliance check.

That should make every licensee stop and think.

Christchurch City Council and Police recently carried out a Controlled Purchase Operation (CPO) at 15 licensed premises, focusing on the sale of alcohol to minors.

Five premises failed because staff did not take the appropriate steps to request identification or confirm the customer's age.

It is a timely reminder that alcohol compliance training cannot be a one-off exercise.

It is not enough to train staff when they start and assume they know what to do.

Staff need to be confident about:

• When to ask for ID
• What forms of ID are acceptable
• How to refuse a sale
• What to do when they are unsure
• When to involve the duty manager

And those skills need to be reinforced regularly.

For licensees, this is a good opportunity to step back and look at how your premises is actually operating.

Are your staff training and compliance processes working in practice?

Do your staff feel confident refusing a sale?

Are you regularly refreshing their knowledge and checking that your systems are being followed?

Good compliance isn't just about having policies in place. It's about making sure they work when it matters.

Don't wait for a CPO or an inspector to identify a gap in your systems.

If you need help reviewing your alcohol compliance processes or staff training, Pervinder Davies Law can help.

When was the last time you tested your staff on alcohol compliance?



Link to the article in the comments below

24/08/2026

24/08/2026

13/08/2026

🎉 Planning a Christmas, New Year's, or summer event?

Yep, time to start thinking about your Special Licence if you've got a Christmas, New Year's, or summer event on the cards.

Here's the thing: applications can take a few weeks to process, and the silly season sneaks up fast. If you're a pub, club, café, or event organiser thinking about extended hours, an outdoor area, or a public event with alcohol on-site, now's the time to start sorting your paperwork — not December 10th.

📋 Get in early, avoid the last-minute scramble, and enjoy the event instead of stressing about compliance.

We handle Special Licence applications from start to finish — get in touch and we'll sort it for you. 🍻

09/08/2026

When Your Licensing Application No Longer Matches Your Business — What Now?

You've done the work. The application is filed, the fee is paid, and you're waiting on a decision. Then something changes — the layout doesn't work the way you planned, the trading hours you applied for don't match how the business is actually operating, a supplier or lease arrangement falls through, or the concept itself evolves as you get closer to opening.

This happens more often than people think. And it raises a genuine problem: an alcohol licensing application isn't just a form you can quietly update. Once it's filed, it sits in front of the District Licensing Committee, Police, the Licensing Inspector, and the Medical Officer of Health — all of whom assess it against what you originally proposed. Change direction without careful handling, and you can trigger fresh reporting requirements, extended timeframes, additional conditions, or objections that wouldn't otherwise have arisen.

The instinct is often to just push forward with the original application and sort out the differences later. In practice, that's usually the more expensive option — either because the licence granted doesn't actually fit the business, or because the mismatch gets flagged down the track and becomes a compliance issue.

This is where the right advice early makes a real difference. An experienced advisor can tell you:

Whether your changes need a formal amendment, a new application, or can be managed within the existing process
How to present the pivot to the reporting agencies so it reads as considered business planning, not a red flag
What conditions or timeframes you can realistically expect once the change is on the table
How to avoid giving objectors a reason to get involved

A licence that matches your actual business is worth far more than one that matches the plan you had six months ago. If your proposal has shifted since filing, it's worth a conversation before you decide how to handle it — not after the Committee raises questions of its own.

📩 Get in touch if you'd like to talk through where things stand with your application.

31/07/2026

📢 Employment Leave Act 2026 — what it means for licensed premises

Parliament has repealed the Holidays Act 2003, replacing it with the Employment Leave Act 2026. For hospitality venues and alcohol retailers — where casual and part-time staff carry much of the trading load, especially over public holidays — this is a significant shift.

Why it matters for hospitality & alcohol retail industry:

🍺 Casual bar/floor staff — under the new "additional and casual hours" category, these staff won't accrue annual or sick leave in the usual way. Instead, you'll pay a 12.5% leave compensation payment on top of wages. Time to review casual staffing costs.

🍺 Public holiday trading — a new "otherwise working day" (OWD) test replaces the old, often-disputed method for working out holiday pay and entitlements. Relevant for premises regularly trading on Christmas Day, New Year's, Easter, and other high-volume holiday periods.

🍺 Hours-based accrual — leave will accrue in hours rather than weeks/days, which should better reflect the variable rosters common in hospitality.

🍺 Duty managers & standard-hours staff — most will simply see entitlements converted from days to hours under their existing contracts.

🍺 Past underpayments — a formal remediation process is being introduced for historic Holidays Act liabilities, relevant if you've had payroll or roster complexity in the past.

⏳ Transition: most employers get a 2-year window to update payroll systems before the new Act takes effect — but now is the time to start reviewing rosters, casual staffing arrangements, and public holiday pay practices.

If you hold an alcohol licence and want to understand how this affects your business and compliance, get in touch — happy to walk through it.

25/07/2026

Happy 2nd Birthday to Pervinder Davies Law. ❤️

Two years ago, I took a leap of faith and started something that reflected who I am and the way I wanted to practise law.

Building a business hasn’t always been easy. There have been moments of excitement, moments of uncertainty, long hours, and plenty of sacrifices. There have also been moments where I’ve wondered if I was good enough or whether I was making the right decisions. But every challenge has shaped me into a better lawyer, business owner, and person.

What I’m most proud of isn’t simply reaching two years. It’s the relationships I’ve built, the trust my clients have placed in me, and knowing that I’ve been able to help people through some of the most important decisions and challenging situations they face.

Running your own business can feel lonely at times, but it also reminds you how many incredible people are quietly cheering you on. To my clients, colleagues, friends, family, and everyone who has supported, referred, encouraged, or believed in me—thank you. Every conversation, recommendation, and word of encouragement has meant more than you probably realise.

Two years feels like both a lifetime and the blink of an eye. I’m proud of how far Pervinder Davies Law has come, but I know this is only the beginning.

Here’s to the next chapter, continuing to grow, learning every day, and helping even more people along the way.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Pervinder Davies Law. 🥂

15/07/2026

We’re looking forward to attending the NZ Indian Business Association’s Annual Event on 26 July.

It’s always a great opportunity to catch up with familiar faces, make new connections, and hear about the exciting things happening across New Zealand’s Indian business community.

If you’re attending, we’d love to meet you. Whether you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, or simply interested in growing your network, come and say hello. It’s always good to put faces to names and have a chat.

See you on 26 July!

24/06/2026

What's the strangest alcohol licensing myth you've heard?

Over the years, I've heard a few. 😊

"You can transfer a liquor licence to a new owner when you buy a business."

"If nobody objects, the licence is automatically granted."

"A bottle store can sell whatever it wants as long as alcohol is part of the business."

"My licence renewals have always been approved, so this renewal can't be challenged."

The reality is that alcohol licensing is full of assumptions that get passed from one owner, manager, or industry colleague to the next.

Sometimes those assumptions are harmless.

Sometimes they can lead to costly mistakes, delays, or a lot of unnecessary stress.

One of the most common things I see is people relying on what worked for someone else, in a different area, under different circumstances, and assuming the same outcome will apply to them.

But alcohol licensing is rarely that simple.

Every application has its own facts.

Every premises has its own context.

And every licensing decision turns on the specific circumstances in front of the decision-makers.

That's one of the things that makes this area of law so interesting.

No two applications are ever quite the same.

So I'll throw the question out there:

What's the biggest alcohol licensing myth or misconception you've heard in the hospitality or alcohol retail industry?