You're probably aware that changes to the Holidays Act 2003 and the Employment Relations Act 2000 came into effect on 1 April 2011.
The Employment Relations Amendment Act 2010 and the Holidays Amendment Act 2010 introduce a wide range of legislative amendments.
Some of the key changes to the Holidays Act included:
- Allowing employees and employers to agree to the employer paying out up to 1 week of an employee's minimum entitlement to annual holidays, at the employee's request.
- Allowing employers and employees to agree to transfer the observance of public holidays to another working day.
- Allowing employers to request proof of sickness or injury within the first three consecutive calendar days of an employee taking sick leave without first havin reasonable grounds to suspect that the sick leave is not genuine
These changes seek to provide greater choice for employers and employees, make the principal Act easier for employers and employees to understand and comply with, and improve the balance of fairness between employees and employers.
The main changes to the Employment Relations Act included:
- Extending the 90 day trial period to cover all employers, not just those with fewer than 20 employees
- Changes to the personal grievance provisions
- Requiring consent to be given before a union can access a workplace, and confirming communication with employees can occur during collective bargaining.
- Requiring employers to retain employment agreements. This amendment comes into effect from 1 July 2011.
- Extending the role and powers of labour inspectors.
These changes will allow for employment problems to be resolved more quickly, reduce costs, support more efficient, effective and flexible processes around ending the employment relationship, and help restore the confidence of all parties in the personal grievance system and employment institutions.
Employer Documentation Kit
If you already had reasonably detailed systems in place, you might be wondering whether they are now robust enough to stand scrutiny under the new requirements.
You might also be aware that you’ve always taken care of the essentials with more speed than system, and you’re not entirely sure where to start bringing it all up to compliance standard.
We have a simple Employer Documentation Kit which will assist you.
The Kit provides essential documentation to help you maintain sound record-keeping systems on employment matters. It includes fundamental checklists, forms and letters covering a myriad of employment events around recruitment, performance management, leave entitlements and requests, grievance, dismissal and termination - 48 documents in total!