Dramatic Changes to the Holidays Act 2003

The Holidays Act 2003 will shortly undergo some of the biggest changes since it came into force on 1 April 2004. The Government established a Holidays Act Taskforce to review the Act and suggest improvements to address what was seen as a complicated and ambiguous Act. There were concerns that there was widespread non-compliance particularly around the payment of leave, primarily because of issues with the way the legislation was interpreted by payroll systems. This was particularly problematic for employees who did not work a 5 day / 40 hours a week pattern.

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Regular In The Context Of The Holidays Act And Annual Leave Court Of Appeal Judgement

A recent decision by the Court of Appeal has potentially changed the way employers calculate and pay annual holidays, after the meaning of the word “regular” was defined in the context of the Holidays Act 2003 (the Act). Specifically, the Court considered whether productivity or incentive-based payments should be excluded from the ordinary weekly pay calculation contained in s 8(2) of the Act.

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Why commission payments can put your business at risk: New Court of Appeal Judgement on calculation of annual leave

A recent decision by the Court of Appeal has potentially changed the way employers calculate and pay annual holidays, after the meaning of the word “regular” was defined in the context of the Holidays Act 2003 (the Act). Specifically, the Court considered whether productivity or incentive-based payments should be excluded from the ordinary weekly pay calculation contained in s 8(2) of the Act.

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Advocating for change – name publication in the Employment Relations Authority

There are really three options about the naming of parties in employment litigation, vis that there is a total prohibition on naming parties, that there is a default setting where parties are generally not named but an application can be made by a party for names to be published, and finally the publication of names more or less automatically except where a party can persuade the court or tribunal that withholding names is appropriate.

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The Gulf Between Us

I sat in a meeting earlier this week and I heard a conversation play out between an employer and their former employee who was made redundant as a result of COVID-19. It was a conversation I have heard many times before, not just as a result of the pandemic but as part of the numerous summaries given around how an employment relationship had broken down.

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When a contractor may actually be an employee

A new employment court finding further explores the commonly vexed question of when a contractor may actually be an employee. Leota v Parcel Express Ltd concerns a courier driver who has been engaged as a contractor but argued that he was not “in business for himself” as an independent contractor, rather he is actually an employee of the company. Whilst this judgement is fact-specific and does not mean that all courier drivers in New Zealand are employees, Chief Judge Christina Inglis conducts an in-depth analysis that sheds light on the real test – asking “what is the real nature of the relationship?”

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