Rainey Collins Lawyers

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

By Alan Knowsley, Monday, 19 April, 2010, Employment

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 the 1st half year) have been the VPs and the rest of the Board has comprised of Alan Taylor (Sec/Tres), Barbara Buckett, Emma Warden, Mark Nutsford, Mike Kyne, Ross Crotty and David Collins (David for the 2nd half year).

Agnes remained on the committee for the balance of the year after giving up the VP role to concentrate on her university post graduate studies.  She is finishing on the committee and is heading overseas for further study.  We all wish her well.

There are several members of the committee who have been particularly active this past year.  The most involved has been our hard working secretary/treasurer Alan Taylor who not only has undertaken those often thank less tasks but also took on the redesign of our website and the major role in our submissions on the Minister of Labour’s discussion document on personal grievance procedures and no win no fee advocates.
Also of particular note have been Agnes for her ongoing review of our constitution and rules which is still in progress and will be carried on by the committee and Karen and Mark for their submissions to the Employment Court on representative etiquette and other issues raised with us by the Chief Judge.

Other matters under consideration by the committee are enforcement of ERA decisions and awards, removal of the restriction on payments to advocates of their fee portion of mediated payments, development of a logo for the institute that members can display on their promotional material such as their website or business card and a group or bulk buy scheme for professional indemnity insurance.

Initiatives in place are the group buying scheme through Lexis Nexis under which members can obtain discounts (at times substantial) on purchases.  One very popular one is the Personal Grievances Companion.
We are currently working on providing seminars in various areas of the country and we hope to include the South Island which we have not done in recent times.

The updated website put together by Alan offers members and the public a much enhanced site.  All members now have their own page with contact and other details and this has enabled easier contact from the public.  We have also been uploading a variety of other material such as 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 were again lively and the address by Judge Graeme Colgan once more was excellent.  He dealt with a number of issues including costs awards and the paper is available on the website for those who missed the live presentations.  We are very grateful for the support the Institute receives from the bench and members of the ERA at our various events and also in seeking our input into issues as they arise.

The Institute was also invited to speak at the valedictory sitting of Judge Coral Shaw last May before she headed off to the UN to sit on their labour cases.

The Institute has a very important role to play in that it brings together advocates and lawyers, the judiciary, Employment Relations Authority members and mediators unlike most other organisations in the field of employment law.  The Institute provides a means for the strengthening of collegial friendships and the raising of issues but also for support and guidance of those who may often be working in a solo practice environment.

The Institute also provides a forum for the public to raise concerns about the standards and behaviour of the members.  In the last year 2 matters have been raised. One a formal complaint and the other being dealt with informally at the client’s request.  Neither have yet reached a resolution. B y providing a method of maintaining high standards among members the public can have confidence in choosing a member to represent them.  To be able to claim Legal Aid the advocate must be a member of the Institute and it is possible that membership may become a requirement of more significance in the future if professional standards or membership of a professional body become more rigidly structured in line with Ministry proposals.

I and the committee members are looking forward to the next year and hope to again raise the level of services offered to members.  All ideas are welcome and all assistance with taking the Institute forward into the next year and beyond is also very much appreciated.

Alan Knowsley
President

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