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. 

For details of our cost effective fixed rate employment law services for employers, please click here.

There was an interesting article in the Wanganui Chronicle yesterday. Not only does the article note that the majority of cases at the Employment Relations Authority are won by the employee, but a quote from the Employers and Manufacturers Association is noteworthy: 

"We certainly know from the statistics that when it comes to performance-related matters, employers get that wrong 85 per cent of the time."

The EMA statistics confirm our own findings. What does this mean for you, as an employee? It means that if you think you have been unfairly treated the statistics prove that you probably have a very good case and nothing to lose by talking to us about taking it further.

Employment relations problems happen in all types of work and at every level. Even big companies that should know better are often involved with personal grievances. We have found that certain types of employers are over represented in personal grievance claims. They include charities, doctors, and farmers.

We have talked about charities before and we’ll talk about doctors at some stage. For now we want to talk about employees in the farming industry. We frequently come across cases so bad that we can only describe it as employee abuse. Examples include farm workers not being provided with employment agreements, being dismissed on the spot for no reason, having part of their wages withheld illegally, being kicked out of their farm house with no warning, serious bullying and harassment, and being physically and verbally abused by the owner or managers. All of these things could happen to any employee; however, they seem to occur much more frequently with farm employees. The way that many farm employees are dismissed on a whim and with no warning shows that some farmers have no idea of even the most basic employment procedures – or they just don’t care.

If you are a farm employee, you don’t have to put up with this. If you are dismissed or your working conditions are changed without your permission, you probably have a personal grievance claim available to you. It is very important that you keep records (dates, times, what was said and what happened) and that you try to get proof of what has happened. For example, if the farm manager tells you to pack your bags and get out, try to get it in writing (email is fine). Try also to have a reliable witness who will agree to give evidence to support your case.

We realise that it can be challenging for small scale employers to know the law, however, what happens to many farm workers is nasty, vindictive and illegal. There are plenty of industry bodies that will help employers to do the right thing, at a reasonable price, so there’s no excuse for bad behaviour on the farm.

If you have any concerns about your work please contact us.