The Coalition agreement has been signed, and what I find interesting is the message this sends: principles and values are no more than an optional extra to be traded away at will.

In the battle of bland versus boring, bland and boring won the election!

The Employment Relations (Restraint of Trade) Amendment Bill is an example of pointless and unnecessary legislation being rushed through Parliament.

Why is it that New Zealand is an unbelievably dangerous place to work?

I often warn clients about leaving a decision in the hands of Employment Relations Authority (ERA) because we have no control over the outcome.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) continues to deal with various Covid-19 cases, mostly dealing with unfair dismissals.

It is widely accepted that there is a huge amount of unreported sexual abuse happening in society.

You may have seen news articles lately about senior lawyers sexually abusing or harassing junior female staff.

One of the unique characteristics of employment law is that you don’t need to be a lawyer to call yourself an employment expert.

The Employment Court needs to focus on groups of workers who need protection.

A recent news article caught my eye, saying “Christchurch business owner jailed for attempted rape and indecent assault of employee”.

Late last year I wrote about a decision of the Employment Court making 4 Uber drivers independent contractors, rather than employees.

The primary reason you did was probably because a ride was available at an acceptable, agreed price, and probably cheaper than the established taxi companies.

Who would have thought that employment law is going to be such an electoral hot potato? The Government has come out and decided that fair pay agreements (FPA) are going to be forced into legislation using their majority, and anyone opposing their view has been ignored.

A former client finally settled her personal grievance after 2½ years of litigation. The key (money) terms was that she received $20,000 and her employment advocate received $65,000. I kid you not!

Gaurav Sharma has been expelled from Caucus because he demanded an investigation into his allegations of bullying, and would not accept the Labour Party offer of mediation. Just the sort of egotistical nonsense we expect from our politicians.

The behaviour of legal advocates is under inspection in a significant review of the country's legal services, after complaints from lawyers and judges about their conduct in court.

A case from the Human Rights Review Tribunal in late May, reported in the NBR, illustrates why legal advocates - those who are not lawyers but nonetheless represent people in employment courts, dispute resolution hearings and tribunals - are under the scrutiny of this review.

The case involves a former employee of the Chow brothers who claimed a breach of privacy as part of a fractious process of termination from the Chows' business, Stonewood Group.

The recent Employment Relations Authority decision involving Olivia Farrelly and Advance Office Products highlights the need for good employment law advice.

Olivia was interviewed twice, then offered a job to provide customer support, mostly by phone. Two weeks later, Advance became concerned with her phone manner, and felt that they might be losing business because of it.

Time and time again I see a company’s culture and values failing to serve the business and the staff working in it - from my experience this applies to most government departments and many large corporates - but also to many small businesses. What values does your decision making convey? The Donald Trump model of decision-making is certainly entertaining - but the clear message is ‘If you dare to disagree with me I will fire you…’ That is a sure way to surround yourself with idiots who cannot or will not think for themselves…

Supplying references or information about a former employee may breach the Privacy Act 1993 and see you out of pocket.

In a recent case, Director of Human Rights Tribunal v Katui Early Childhood Learning Centre Limited (Katui ECC), the tribunal found the Privacy Act had been breached when Katui ECC disclosed information about a former employee without permission. It awarded $3000 to the former employee.