Are your HR practices up to 2015 standards?

Contents

• Laid-off executive wins right to his $16,000 bonus
• Oversleeping chef awarded $10,000 
• Exploited IT worker gets $100k payout
• Man shot with nailgun at work awarded $6,000 compensation
• Employment law is an ever-changing landscape
• Next step: Get a FREE 2-hour HR planning session
• How to arrange your HR planning session
• What happens after the HR planning session
• Hurry! Book your HR planning session today

While you’ve been enjoying the long, hot summer, some employers haven’t had such a restful time, as they’ve been hauled over the proverbial coals in employment court cases.

Here’s just a small selection of employment law cases from last month:

Laid-off executive wins right to his $16,000 bonus

Despite making a loss of more than $1 million, and IT company had to pay $16,000 to a former manager because they didn’t have tight enough employment contracts in place. 6 January 2015

Oversleeping chef awarded $10,000

A Wellington chef was sacked on the spot after sleeping through his alarm twice and missing a busy shift. The Employment Relations Authority found the employer negligent because they dismissed the worker without notice, without investigation, and without formally raising concerns with the chef. 6 January 2015

Exploited IT worker gets $100K payout

An Australian IT company that exploited a New Zealand worker for 7 months has been ordered to pay him more than $100,000. The employer failed to pay a full salary, KiwiSaver contributions, PAYE to IRD, and holiday pay. 7 January 2015

Man shot with nailgun at work awarded $6,000 compensation

An employer failed to provide a safe workplace for a framer who was shot in the chest with a nailgun by another employee in Christchurch.

Employment law is an ever-changing landscape

If you’ve been following the same employment practices year in, year out, it’s definitely time for a review.

Some of the topical things to address include:

• Restructuring and redundancy processes: There is now more onus on the employer to provide evidence of redundancies made for commercial reasons: do you know what kind of legal proof you have to provide? If you’re not sure what to do, you need to speak to Recruit NZ.
• Health and Safety: Most industries and companies are facing ever more stringent policies, procedures and reporting. If you’ve been doing the same old thing for years now, you definitely need to review what you’re doing.
• Alcohol and drugs: How does the lower drink-driving limit affect your current policy? This is definitely something to think about if you have a lot of company vehicles on the road.
• Equal pay developments: This is cited as being one of the areas to watch, especially in female-oriented industries. In many countries there is a shift to employers needing to prove they’re paying fairly, rather than for female employees to have to prove claims in court.
• Social media policy: Social media isn’t going away just yet. So what can (and can’t) your employees post on Facebook? What can they do on LinkedIn? What if you suspect an employee of job hunting or pulling a sickie – do you know what you legally can and can’t do online?

Next step: Get a FREE 2-hour HR planning session 

Get your HR and recruitment practices on the right track in 2015 with a FREE 2-hour planning session.

The 2-hour HR planning session will be Recruit NZ Director Tanya Gray, and has a $310 value.

How to arrange your HR planning session

To arrange your HR planning session, call Recruit NZ on 09 280 3977 or email info@recruit-nz.co.nz

What happens after the HR planning session?

What you choose to do with your HR plans is completely up to you. Of course, Recruit NZ would love to work with you to implement your HR plans. (Plans are great, but they need action to make them happen… and we’ll provide that action!)

You’ll receive some different options and suggestions at the end of your HR planning session, based on your business needs.

Hurry! Book your HR planning session today!

Call Recruit NZ on 09 280 3977 or email info@recruit-nz.co.nz

Or if you’d prefer, you can schedule a 15-minute phone meeting online: