A valid 90 day trial period will usually prevent a dismissed employee from taking an unjustified dismissal personal grievance claim if they are fired within the 90 days. It does not prevent the employee from taking an unjustified disadvantage or breach of contract claim.

We are finding that many 90 day clauses are completely invalid. This means that if your employer dismisses you you will probably have a very strong claim against them for unjustified dismissal.  Some key points:

• If you did not sign the employment agreement BEFORE your very first day of work, the 90 day clause is invalid.
• If the employer did not give you enough time to get advice about the clause before you signed the employment agreement (even if it was signed before you started work) it is probably invalid.
• If the clause does not exactly follow the wording required by law it is probably invalid.
• Now that 90 day clauses have been around for a while, many employers are getting careless and not taking enough care to ensure that their clauses are valid. The chance that your 90 day clause is null and void is increasing.
• Some employees make the mistake of taking legal advice from friends who do not understand 90 day clauses as well as they think they do. The result: the employee walks away from what would have been a strong claim.

 We are happy to have a quick look at your clause and to let you know if you have a case - at no cost. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Nakedbus sacked a driver for not letting a passenger go to the toilet. The driver took Nakedbus to the Employment Relations Authority and lost. However, what really bothers us is that Nakedbus had 400 incidents where the bus driver had broken the law by speeding, and a police complaint. What had Nakedbus done to deal with their driver who had repeatedly acted unsafely and illegally? Nothing!. 

This is shocking. Safety should be the first priority.  Nakedbus has allowed people to be put at risk and done nothing. Shame on them.

The abuse of farm workers is sickeningly common. Some farm managers and owners act as if they were back in feudal times, where employees were property and their bosses could mistreat them as much as they wanted.

In a recent case a shepherd who was recovering from a heart attack was fired. Before the shepherd was fired he had repeatedly tried to talk to his employer about coming back to work, The employer then dismissed the shepherd, without even meeting with him. The employer said it dismissed the employee because it had decided he would take too long to come back to work. On the day the shepherd was terminated he was cleared by his doctor to return to work. Justice was done when the shepherd won $18,500 in compensation in the Employment Relations Authority.

The shepherd’s case is just one example of many which shows how badly many farm workers are treated. We have seen many cases, including:

- Farm workers underpaid thousands of dollars in wages and holiday pay.

- Farm owners not paying Kiwisaver money to the IRD.

- Warnings given with no meeting and no discussion.

- Depriving farm workers of their meat entitlement.

- Changes to farm workers' conditions of employment, or duties, without agreement.

- Verbal and physical abuse.

- Farm workers who are dismissed by text message.

- Invalid 90 day trial clauses being used to illegally dismiss employees.

- Unilaterally changing agreed rent and accommodation arrangements.

- Not letting workers take time off sick.

- Pretending that workers have no rights.

- Spreading gossip about the worker to other farm employees and in town.

Farm workers have the same employment rights as other employees. This means that if you are dismissed, or your terms or conditions of work are changed without your agreement, or you are in any way badly treated, that you may be able to take a personal grievance or sue for breach of your employment agreement. We have helped farm workers all over New Zealand. Please contact us if you would like to discuss your situation. All inquiries are confidential.