Employment Agreement Clauses: Legislation and Case Law that can Impact 

Last year in particular, there were a lot of law changes and some case law decisions that have meant individual employment agreement (IEA) templates need updating.  We’ve also been recommending some changes that simply help businesses in the ever-changing business climate too.

As we’ve reviewed client’s IEAs for them, we noticed that in some cases, even older law changes, such as meal and rest break requirements, haven’t been updated either.  Sometimes it’s been more economical for a client to purchase one of our IEA templates, customised to their business’s needs, than to have their old template updated.

So, below is a list of the more common changes that we’ve been making, and if you think your IEAs might need a review, please don’t hesitate to contact us;

• Updated Bereavement Leave provisions
• Domestic / Family Violence clause
• Number of public holidays has increased, with Matariki
• Ensuring meal and rest break clauses contain details of when breaks are to be taken
• Revising wording in part-time agreements to ensure minimum wage requirements are met
• Privacy Act references updated to reflect revision of Act
• Sick leave entitlement increased
• Checking that a trial period is still relevant for the business depending on total staff numbers