Death to 'management speak'
When Mike King withdrew from the Suicide-Prevention Panel, he read a paragraph aloud from the draft suicide prevention plan and said “What does this mean?” I am sure many of us silently rejoiced that we were not only ones who had read a report and at the end of it thought that it said absolutely nothing, nada, zero, zip.
Snacks, Shoes & Supression
Let’s say you decide to walk out of the supermarket without paying for your snacks. Or maybe you attack someone on the street and steal their snazzy shoes (not speaking from experience I promise…). If you are charged with a criminal offence, are you required to tell your employer? If the offending is relevant to the nature of your job, then the answer is yes. Failure to inform your employer of any relevant criminal charges is a breach of good faith which can result in disciplinary action or even dismissal.
When a close shave gets a little too close
It’s no secret that New Zealand has one of the worst health and safety records in the developed world. In 2017 there have already been 16 workplace fatalities in New Zealand. However on the upside, as a whole, there has been significant developments in workplace health and safety in the five years since the Pike River tragedy. We now have a new regulator (Worksafe), new legislation (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015) and attitude and behaviour in workplace health and safety has improved considerably by employees, employers and directors alike.
Lesson for employers - 90 days, no exceptions
The 90 day trial period has been available to all employers since April 2011 and we are repeatedly seeing errors by employers in applying it correctly.
Put simply, if an employee is properly dismissed using a 90 day trial provision they cannot take a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal.
Though it sounds reasonably straight forward if any part of the trial period dismissal is incorrect, even if only minor, the employee may be able to bring a personal grievance against the employer.
Keep calm and make good decisions
This morning I was feeling particularly unattractive so decided it was going to be a big make up day. I spent considerable effort on my eyes to detract from the lines around my mouth (women will get this – men ask women over 40).
Having achieved a look which involved a heavy eyeliner on my top lid from a liquid pen I then started thinking about other stuff. I reached for
