The ground has shifted significantly due to recent decisions of the courts dealing with redundancy situations. The very recent Court of Appeal decision in Grace Team Accounting Limited v Brake confirmed a number of changes which employers specifically need to be aware of, particularly the legal test regarding justification for dismissal in a redundancy situation.

Employers will be pleased with changes to employment law. The Employment Relations Bill 2013 has just been passed into law by a 62 – 58 vote, as the first enactment of the new Parliament.

As the typical 9-5 working day becomes increasingly dated in modern times, many employers have found they need to adopt a more fluid approach to managing how their employees work.

As we near this year’s election, the nexus between statute and protocols imposed by employers has come into focus in a recent Employment Relations Authority decision. The Personal Assistant to the Mayor and Chief Executive of Whangarei District Council nominated an opposing Mayoral candidate to run for office. She was then fired.