U r fired (Fire emoji) - How not to dismiss employees
Has your employer fired you over text message? Has your employer made claims about your behaviour, but can’t remember times or dates when said behavior occurred? Has your employer failed to discuss matters with you at all before deciding to fire you? You probably don’t need a lawyer to tell you that this sort of conduct by employers is not only unprofessional, but illegal. If you find yourself in a situation like this you may also be entitled to claim thousands of dollars in compensation.
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.
