Rainey Collins Lawyers

Employer Ordered to Pay $60,500 for Safety Breach

Friday, 3 September, 2010 | Alan Knowsley

In a recent case an employer was convicted and fined after an employee was injured at work.  The Court held that the accident was preventable but that proper training had not been carried out and hazards had not been identified in the work place.  The fine was $43,000 and reparation $17,500.  The employer could have avoided the accident, prosecution and/or penalties if it had put in place a system to… Continue reading

Abuse on Facebook Leads to Dismissals and Compensation Payments

Friday, 27 August, 2010 | Alan Knowsley

In two recent cases employees have been dismissed after posting abusive comments on Facebook but in both cases the employer got the process wrong resulting in payouts and costs.

Recently a person was fired from their job for writing abusive comments about a co-worker on Facebook.  The Employer thought this was good reason to investigate and as a result of the investigation decided to fire the employee.  However, the… Continue reading

Know the Rules When Employing Interns

Tuesday, 27 July, 2010 | Alan Knowsley

It came to light recently that many employers do not know the rules when employing interns.  It seems many were exploiting young interns who were keen to get on the job training and experience, especially in industries like advertising.  Some interns were working for up to a year without pay or any prospect of permanent paid employment in the future.  Understandably many felt like they were being treated unfairly… Continue reading

Verbal Reference Accessed by Employee

Tuesday, 13 July, 2010 | Alan Knowsley

A recent complaint to the Privacy Commissioner has upheld the right of a former employee to be told the content of a verbal reference given by her former employer.

The employee had given permission for the former employer to give a reference but when she missed out on the job sought to know what had been said.

The employer initially refused but following a ruling by the Privacy… Continue reading

FREE Seminar – Employers’ Guide to the Disciplinary Process and Performance Reviews

Saturday, 22 May, 2010 | Alan Knowsley

Dealing with employment disciplinary issues and performance reviews can be stressful for employers and there are steps which must be followed to ensure that you get the process correct.  A failure to properly handle the investigation or review may result in a personal grievance claim and that can be expensive as well as the cause of wasted time which would be better spent on productive activities.

In this seminar… Continue reading

Poor Process in Relatively Straight-Forward Redundancy Leads to $342,000 Compensation for Wrongful Dismissal

Tuesday, 11 May, 2010 | Alan Knowsley

An employer which got the redundancy process wrong has been ordered to pay $128,000 redundancy, $15,000 hurt and humiliation plus $193,000 lost wages, and $6,000 for lost benefits, to a former Deputy Managing Director.

The employer had predetermined the outcome of the process, failed to engage in proper consultation, unilaterally varied the employment agreement, and caused damage by claiming that the employee had not been the Deputy Managing Director… Continue reading

Employment Law Institute AGM – 30 March 2010 – President’s Report

Monday, 19 April, 2010 | Alan Knowsley

Dear Members,

It is with great pleasure that I present this report for the 2009-2010 year.  This has been a very busy year for the Institute as we have sought to improve our services to members and bring our own administration up to date.

I wish to express my thanks to all the Board members for their efforts throughout the year.  Karen Spackman and Agnes McKay (Agnes for… Continue reading

President of the Employment Law Institute

Monday, 19 April, 2010 | Alan Knowsley

Partner Alan Knowsley was re-elected President of the Employment Law Institute of New Zealand at its recent AGM.  At the AGM Alan reported on the Institute’s activities over the last year including the Chief Judge’s address to the Wellington and Auckland lunch meetings in February.  These lunches are one of the highlights of the year and provide a relaxed and informal interface between the judiciary and members.  The debates… Continue reading

$35,000 Award to Spouse Fired When Husband Resigned

Friday, 26 March, 2010 | Alan Knowsley

In a recent case a wife was fired after her husband resigned to go to another job.  The employer suspected collusion and feared loss of sensitive information to the new employer in the similar industry.  The employer’s suspicions were further reinforced because the couple would not name the new employer.

The Employment Relations Authority held that there was no link between the husband’s new job and the wife’s employment. … Continue reading

Expectations 2010

Thursday, 11 March, 2010 | Ronette Druskovich

After a quick review of the media, everything we are hearing about 2010 is much more positive than it has been for the last few years.  Here are a few predictions together with actions you may need to take:

Inflation:

• Should you be looking to fix your mortgage rate in the next 6 months?
• If your assets are likely to appreciate with inflation, should you look

Thursday, 2 September, 2010

Rainey Collins Recent Appointments

Monday, 30 August, 2010

Rainey Collins Hosts Women in Business Corporate Event