Memo to Staff - Christmas Party
Due to the recent changes in the health and safety law we have reassessed this year’s Christmas party. In order to meet our obligations the following will be the case:
Trial and probationary periods - know the difference
It’s unfortunate but all too common: small employers continue to make mistakes that cost them dearly.
A recent case saw a Mr L. start working for a couple that were running a bee keeping business. The couple believed they employed Mr L. as a trainee bee keeper but Mr L. said he was employed as a labourer. After nine weeks the couple dismissed Mr L. on the basis that he was unsuitable to work as a bee keeper. Just like that.
Circumstances do change
There have literally been hundreds of times that we have been contacted by employers who say they want a ‘casual’ employment agreement for their employee, or they want an updated agreement for their ‘casual’ employee.
When we get into it we regularly find that what may have started out, originally, as a totally intermittent arrangement between the employer and the employee where the employer was free to offer work occasionally and the employee could accept or decline the offer as they pleased, has now changed.
There's no such thing as instant termination
Without sounding like a broken record there is no such thing as instant termination. There is no such thing as an action that can result in someone being fired without the proper process being undertaken.
Employee snooping
Some time ago there was a front page article on the Privacy Commissioner talking about receiving several complaints about Southland employees snooping through company information.
The action was said to be known as ‘employee browsing’ when an employee has access to a company’s database and uses the database to access information they shouldn’t.
