Some employers create a false redundancy situation to try to get away with an unjustified dismissal. Sometimes there are genuine redundancies happening at a work place, but this does not mean a particular redundancy is genuine as some employers will take advantage by trying to get rid of a particular person for other reasons.

Even if a redundancy is more or less genuine, the employer usually still has to fulfil procedural and substantive requirements or it can become an unjustified dismissal.

If you are uncertain about the way your redundancy is being handled we can quickly assess and provide feedback on your situation and your rights. 

Much good employment law is simply treating others how you would like to be treated, including giving people a fair chance to be heard before you make decisions that affect them.

In a recent case, an admin employee was dismissed via text message after a disagreement at work. The text said: "There is no point coming back to work"

The employer later tried to claim that the employee had not been dismissed. Unsurprisingly, the Employment Relations Authority said it was clear that the employee had been dismissed and that the employer had not acted fairly and reasonably. The employee was awarded over $30,000 including lost wages, unpaid expenses, and payment for hurt and humiliation.

If you have been badly treated at work you can get justice.

If you feel that things aren't right at work you're probably right, even if you can't put things into words. Trust your intuition, or gut feeling. 

Often changes in attitude towards employees happen after the appointment of a new manager. The attitude changes can be subtle at first, leaving you doubting whether or not what you are sensing is right. If you are in this situation we encourage you to make diary notes of things that are happening and keep these safe off site. You can also contact us by email or telephone for a free, no obligation, discussion to talk about what's happening and your options. If you do this at an early stage you can avoid the damage to your health, and work relationships, which often arises if things have been deteriorating for a while.

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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.

Employees on parental leave are vulnerable. The law provides extra protection to mothers, fathers and partners while they are on parental leave. These types of employees are protected by the normal employment laws and also by the special protections found in the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987. Delmaine illegally made a woman redundant while she was on maternity leave. The result was that the woman was awarded $32,000 by the Employment Relations Authority. 

Please ask us if you have any concerns about your parental leave rights.

Personal grievances must be raised with your employer (or ex-employer) within 90 days or they will probably be lost for ever. The 90 days doesn’t stop ticking just because it’s Christmas holidays. If something has happened to you and the 90 days is going be up soon, please contact us now to discuss. There is no cost for an initial no obligation email discussion and if you need help we can often do so on a no win no fee basis, or at minimal cost.

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.