Casual employees have fewer rights than permanent employees. For example, casual employees cannot usually pursue personal grievances for unjustified disadvantage or unjustified dismissal. This of course provides an incentive for some employers to abuse their employees’ employment status by calling someone “casual” when they are not.

In our experience the majority of employees who have been told that they are “casual” are actually permanent employees (either full time or part time).

Even if you genuinely started off as a casual employee, you can become a permanent employee without realising it and through any of the following factors:

• The number of hours worked each week;
• If work is allocated in advance by a roster;
• If there is a regular pattern of work;
• If there is a mutual expectation of continuity of employment;
• If the employer requires notice before an employee is absent or on leave;
• If the employee works to consistent starting and finishing times.

Even if you are referred to as a “casual” employee this is meaningless. It is the actual nature of the working relationship that counts.

There are whole industries where the majority of employees are employed on a “casual” basis. Usually these industries are full of young people who don’t know their rights and feel unable to speak up. Examples include fast food and the entertainment sector.

If you have been dismissed from your “casual” job or disadvantaged in any way, it is worth checking the actual situation with us. Please contact us to see if we can help. If you are a parent who is concerned about how your son or daughter has  been treated please feel free to contact us too. We do not charge for initial emails and telephone calls.

It's always a shame when employees are abused or their rights trampled on. It's bad enough when this happens to a seasoned employee with life and work experience, but perhaps it's even worse when it happens to a young person in their first job. 

We've heard of many cases where a 17 or 18 year old is simply told not to bother coming back to work tomorrow, with no explanation and no consideration of their legal rights. There are many employers who think they can get away with mistreating young employees as they don't know what their rights are or they think they'll be too intimidated to take it further.

Some young employees are told that they have no rights because they are casual employees, however, many so called casual employees quickly become regular, permanent employees - regardless of what the employment agreement says.

If you're a young employee and the way you've been treated doesn't seem fair, it probably isn't. If you've got any questions about your situation, or about your employment agreement (even if it's not in writing), please give us a call or send us an email. We'll come back to you at no cost.

NZ Post gave an unfair written warning to an employee for socialising outside work after work hours. 

The Employment Relations Authority removed the warning and awarded the employee compensation. 

An unfair warning can amount to a personal grievance and you can do something about it. Please talk to us if you have been given an unfair warning.

On her second day of work an employee was fired when she received a text from her boss advising her, "no need to come into Salad Bowl tomorrow. We'll be in touch."  The employee was awarded over $6,000. If you have been dismissed in the first few days of work - or after you were offered the job but before starting work - you may have a claim. Please contact us to discuss if you have any questions about your situation.

According to Psychology Today it is crucial that you never pay for legal advice by the hour.  People paid by the hour have every incentive to make your case take as long as possible so that it costs you more and they get paid more. Not only is this practice unethical, it means that the representative is acting in their own best interests - rather than yours. According to Dr Rolf Dobelli it is important to, " Forget hourly rates and always negotiate a fixed price in advance."

Almost all of our clients are either on fixed rates or on a no win no fee basis. Our clients know exactly where they stand financially and our rates are proof that we put our clients' interests first.

We act for both employers and employees in Employment Court appeals. We offer competitive rate fixed fees and no win no fee type arrangements. For more details please visit our Employment Court page.

Some employment agreements contain 90 day trial period provisions. There are some important points to bear in mind:

• 90 day trial periods are only for new employees.
• Someone who has worked for that employer before cannot be put on a 90 day trial period.
• Someone who already works for that employer cannot be put on a 90 day trial period – even if they have only worked for that employer for 1 day.
• If you are dismissed under a 90 day trial period provision the employer has to tell you the reasons why you were dismissed if you ask at the time but they don’t have to give you the reasons for the dismissal if you ask later.
• If the employer dismissed you under the 90 day trial period you can still sue them for unjustified disadvantage, discrimination, sexual and racial harassment, breach of good faith (in some cases) or for failing to keep to the other terms of your employment agreement.

If you’re unsure if a 90 day trial period provision applies to you please contact us.

 We are proud to announce the launch of our pro bono employment law programme. If you have a deserving case that you can't afford to fight please visit our pro bono page for details of how we may be able to help - for free.

Employment problems happen all the time. If something has gone wrong the emphasis needs to be on the fast and effective resolution of the issues so that the parties can either put the problems behind them and get on with their working relationship or part on terms that work for both the employer and the employee. Good faith is a requirement in resolving employment problems.

We believe that it is essential that legal costs are not overwhelming. Recent research has revealed that the average cost to an employer of dealing with an employment dispute is $35,000. For some small employers costs of this magnitude can be enough to put them out of business. Given that a run of the mill payout to an employee as a result of an Employment Relations Authority decision is often between $6,000-$12,000 it is also essential for employees that their costs are reasonable. If your costs are more than you will win, or if they are unaffordable, what’s the point? Huge legal costs just add another injustice to the one you have already suffered.

We are often instructed by clients who have been horrified by the costs charged by their previous law firm representatives. In a couple of recent cases, our clients were charged between $1,500-$2,000 for just one letter to the employer. No real work had been done to resolve the dispute and at that rate of charging it seemed likely that the total legal costs for the cases would be around $20,000. Given the sums at stake, and the hardship that these kinds of costs cause,  this is outrageous. We can understand why people think that some lawyers try to spin things out.

We believe in affordable justice. For almost all mediations our clients either pay no win no fee or a maximum fixed rate of $1500. We offer fixed rate representation to both employees and employers. At these rates, employees are likely to receive a reasonable payment out of the process (after our costs) and employers know that their business will not be financially harmed by the level of costs.