Problems with Foreign Employers

We often find problems occur in companies that have an overseas head office. 

The managers of the New Zealand branch may have come from another country and operations manuals are designed along the lines of employment laws and procedures that apply in that country. The most common country we have “issues” with is Australia. Because Australia and New Zealand appear so similar, it comes as a surprise to many Australian based companies to find that our employee protection laws are actually different from theirs. We have also found issues with Asian, American and German based companies, but the numbers are smaller.

We’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve been called into help an employee who has experienced rough treatment at the hands of an Australian based company with little understanding of our personal grievance protections. 

The good news is that these types of companies can usually afford competent lawyers who will soon educate their client. Once the negotiations start rolling, the problems can usually be resolved quickly.

The moral of the story? Don’t assume that your employer knows how to do things fairly or legally just because they’re a large multi national.