Drawing up a new staff contract this summer?
accelerateonline • November 2, 2021
Comply with the law to stay out of hot water
1. All employees must have a signed employment agreement before they start work.
- Give new employees time (three to five days) to read, understand and ask questions before they sign the contract.
- The contract must include certain clauses, including the type of employment (fixed-term, casual, or permanent), duties, pay, and other benefits, the place and hours of work, how problems can be resolved, etc.
- Use templates in New Zealand Workforce Manager or an Employment Agreement Builder to help you put together a legal employment contract. It covers what you must do by law and sets out common mistakes made by employers and how to avoid them. It takes about 30 minutes to complete, and you can save it part way through.
2. All employees have minimum rights that are set out in law, including:
- Minimum wage: Employees must be paid at least the minimum wage; the current adult minimum rate is $20 per hour.
- Public holidays: Unless written in the contract, employees don’t have to work on public holidays. If they work on a public holiday, they must be paid time and a half, plus if it is a normal workday for them, they also get an alternative day off.
- Health and safety: Employers must provide appropriate training and information for workers so that they can work safely.
3. Employee work hours must follow the legal rules.
- Work activities paid for by the employer also include before and/or after-hours tasks, such as team meetings, opening and closing the business, cleaning and tidying up, on-the-job training, and product familiarisation.
- It is illegal for employers to offer employees zero work hours and expect employees to be available without reasonable compensation.
- Work hours must include proper rest and meal breaks. For example, an employer who works an eight-hour shift gets two paid rest breaks and one unpaid meal break.
Accelerate - December 2023
Accelerate August 2023
Inland Revenue have recently announced this year’s livestock Herd Scheme Values and we think this is a great opportunity to update you on the latest movements. The Herd Scheme Values are the National Average Market Values, determined by a process involving a review of the livestock market as at 30 April.
The values for Dairy this year have seen a fall in values across all female classes, but increases across all male classes. The fall in R1 heifer values can be attributed to the prohibition of live export by sea commencing from 30 April 2023. For the first time the National Average Market Value for R1 Heifers is less than the National Standard Cost of breeding and rearing an R1 Heifer.
In contrast to Dairy values Beef values have increased on average 9% and are almost at record values for all classes.
Sheep values have all fallen from the high of 2022, slipping back an average of 10.2%. Whilst values have fallen, they are still either the second or third highest that they have ever been depending on which class of sheep you are looking at.
Goat values have increased on average 7.8% with almost all classes of fibre and meat producing goats at record highs. The value of milking goats continues to be well down from historic highs, except for breeding bucks which are at their highest value.
Like the rest of the world, New Zealand has reeled from the aftermath of Covid, rising inflation and interest rates, and the cost-of-living crisis. This year we also have a massive storm damage repair bill.
Any tax cuts, or changes to the tax thresholds were vetoed in Budget 2023 as this was viewed as worsening inflation.
Budget 2023 builds on the $889m already provided in response to this year’s storms. A further $6b is allocated for a National Resilience Plan , for rebuilding after weather events. $71b is committed to new and existing infrastructure projects: not only storm damaged communications, power and roading, but schools, hospitals, public housing, rail and road.
