Recent Labour Inspectorate investigations found New Zealand employers are taking advantage of schemes such as Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOFers). These schemes generally involve seeking travellers working for free in exchange for accommodation, and sometimes food.
Many employers were incorrectly treating such workers as volunteers in order to save ...
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The government has announced changes to the essential skills work visas . The following outlines what these changes might mean for you or your employees.
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From 1 March 2017 new legislation has brought about change in civil procedure. Our District Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court are now all governed by new Acts.
Whilst the overarching legislation concerning our courts has been reorganised, the substantive changes within the legislation are less monumental.
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2016 saw the 6 year anniversary of the 4 September earthquake and many insurers granted further time to property owners to bring claims. A number of those deadlines are looming again as at 4 September 2017 and this may impact on property owners and their ability to pursue insurance claims.
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You may be aware that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS/GATCA) requirements have now come into effect.
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In recent years, the American government introduced the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) which is designed to reduce tax evasion by Americans who hold bank accounts in other countries. U.S. citizens and tax residents are required to report their worldwide income to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) whether ...
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The Employment Court decision of A Labour Inspector of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment v Tech 5 Recruitment [2016] NZEmpC 167 has clarified the ambiguity surrounding employment premiums.
Tech 5 Recruitment (“Tech 5”) is a labour hire business that began recruiting employees from the Philippines to work in ...
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When buying, selling or transferring New Zealand property, individuals and entities who live overseas (“offshore persons”) need to supply both a New Zealand IRD number and a taxpayer identification number from any other country where they currently have to pay tax.
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A legislative change in France requires companies with more than 50 employees to guarantee those employees the ‘right to disconnect’ from their smart phones and other technology that gives them access to emails outside of work hours.
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Here’s a common scenario: You’ve found the perfect premises for your business and, after a little back and forth over the lease terms, you’ve signed an agreement to lease which was put together by the landlord’s agent. However just as you’re moving in you’re ...
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The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (the Act) came into full force on 4 April this year. The Act creates new classes of duty holder, new duties and increased penalties for non-compliance. Commercial property landlords will now, in most cases, be duty holders, with obligations under the Act ...
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In October 2016 we warned about a much tougher borrowing environment for commercial property investors and developers in our article Borrowing against commercial property - be prepared for tougher banking practices.
In this article we look at where things are at now: Is it easier to secure finance, and if not ...
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Nicola Tiffen