Employment Law Key Issues

Employment law issues for businesses to deal with are many and varied. Join us for a highly engaging workshop where employment law experts will unpack many of the key issues that arise on a day-to-day basis, provide strategies for dealing with them, and discuss examples of employment situations that have gone wrong.

The workshop supports business owners, managers, and HR professionals in complying with their employment law obligations and ensuring their employment processes are robust.

It will cover an overview of the legal framework of employment law in New Zealand (including the key legislation to be aware of) before discussing a range of topics in more detail that can prove problematic for employers.

By taking a practical and interactive approach, attendees will have plenty of opportunity to apply their learning, share their thoughts and consider how these legal requirements relate to their own workplace.

• The different categories of employee and contractor and the different clauses and contractual documentation required for each type of relationship;

• Different types of leave, how they operate, and what employees' entitlements and obligations are;

• How to manage disciplinary and performance issues to ensure you meet your obligations as an employer; and

• The expectations for undertaking a fair restructure process and what constitutes a genuine business reason for doing so;

• Case law examples where things have gone wrong

Facilitated by Ashley-Jayne and William from 
 

Ashley-Jayne (AJ) co-leads Anderson Lloyd's Employment team, providing practical, pragmatic solutions to often complex workplace issues.

AJ represents clients at mediation, in the Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court, High Court, and the human rights and privacy institutions. She specialises in education employment issues, including Teaching Council matters. She provides advice to boards on governance matters, organisational change management, and complex settlements. AJ also acts for employer insurers.

AJ is an experienced investigator, having conducted workplace investigations, reviews, and other independent investigations in both the public and private sector. AJ is a certified Association of Workplace Investigators member and Certificate Holder (AWI-CH) and conducts independent investigations for both employers and other organisations. AJ has particular expertise investigating allegations of sexual harassment, sexual harm and violence, and inappropriate relationships, both in the workplace and other organisations, and allegations of bullying and harassment. She has experience with vulnerable witnesses, including minors. In addition to carrying out investigations as an independent investigator, AJ regularly advises employers in the public and private sector who are carrying out internal investigations. This includes advising on their employment law and natural justice obligations, as well as management of organisation culture and support throughout such investigations. AJ has assisted a number of internal HR professionals in preparing, reviewing, and implementing internal governance and procedural policies regarding whistleblowing and investigations.

AJ was selected as a 2022 NZ Lawyer Rising Star.

William advises on the full suite of employment law issues, including employment agreements and policies, personal grievances, disciplinary and performance improvement matters, restructures and redundancies, medical incapacity, bullying and harassment, and negotiated exits. William also specialises in privacy law, health and safety, and the nuances of the Holidays Act 2003.

William has appeared as legal counsel at the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court and regularly attends mediations. He takes a strong but pragmatic approach to resolving employment relationship problems.

• An improved understanding of a range of employment-related legislative and contractual provisions to ensure your business is meeting its obligations to employees;

• Be able to identify how to minimise the risk of misclassifying contractors as employees and develop greater understanding of the different types of employment relationship;

• Understand how to avoid common pitfalls and fish hooks in your employment processes;

• Know how to put your business in a good position to defend, and minimise the risk of, personal grievance claims;

• Understand how to manage employee leave and ensure you are paying employees correctly.