April 1, 2025 • 17 mins
Gareth Abdinor is an employment, workplace and information expert - and Director of Abdinor Employment Law.
He joined the Afternoons team to answer questions and explain the nuances of sick leave.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from news Talk zed B.
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So he joins us once a month as part of
our Ask the Expert series to answer all your burning questions.
Gareth Abdenoy. He's an employment, workplace and information expert and
director of Abdena Employment Law. He's brilliant and he joins
us once again.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
It's not Egbert the Expert, the very Eggy blow. No,
we've moved on from those icons of New Zealand advertising.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah almost, Gareth, how you I'm good, thank you. Well,
just while we're on there, before we move on to employment.
The greatest New Zealand icon in your eyes, Gareth.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
It's got to be the peanut butter.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Good Ah, the put But.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
What a great jangle that was.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
We take the fritchest peanuts in the world and.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Put them in.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah. So we'll start off with some Textwaite hundred at
eighty ten eighty. If you've got a question around employment,
Lord give us a ring right now. Hey, guys, a
question for Gareth. I have a staff member who has
taken sick leave to head to a foreign country for
IVF treatment. Will be gone for three months, and I'm
just wondering what our legal standpoint is having to hold
(01:19):
her job open on a medical certificate from another country.
That's from simon.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Goodness, man, that's that's definitely a strange one. Well, the
Holidays Act provides for a certain amount of sick leave,
and that's not three months. The maximum amount that you
can have at any one time is twenty days.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
So I.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Think this person is going to be exceeding their sick leave,
and unless they've obtained an agreement from their employer, they're
going to be on shaky ground as to whether there
will be a job for them to come back to.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Is IVF technically being sick. So if you get a
because you know, I'm good on you for doing it,
but that's something you've opted to do. It's not something
that's befallen you, if you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Well, I certainly think it's a gray area. I'm not
sure that's what the sick lev entitlement was designed for,
although I'm sure you could make an argument to that effect.
I think in this case it's more the length of
time that the person's going to be away that's clearly
an issue, and could certainly have a negative impact on
the business.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Very interesting artist exercier is Hi and Gareth, is it
okay for your employer to make comments around personal appearance
to an employee, such as you look drunk, or you
smell or you look fant Are you drunk?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Well, yeah, I guess the question is does this person
look drunk and have they been drinking at work? It's
a bit of a fine line, certainly, if one of
your workers appears to be intoxicated, I definitely think you
can raise that with them, and in fact, under health
and safety obligations, you're obliged to raise that with them.
(03:08):
Saying you look batted, well, that's maybe getting into awkward territory,
and it really depends on the circumstances.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
What was the other one, tyler Well said you smell
and quotation it's not today anyway. I mean around that
personal appearance and if someone does have a bad body
odor is that I mean that must be a tricky
path to navigate if you're an employ employer.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
It is. It's an incredibly difficult one, and in fact
it's one that's actually come up reasonably often because employers
want to deal with this in the most sensitive way possible,
certainly all of the ones that I've spoken to, But
how do you raise it with someone? It's incredibly awkward.
But what do you do if someone's personal hygiene, body
(03:59):
odor is having an impact on their colleagues, on customers.
It's something that you are entitled to raise, but you
need to do so sensitively.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
It is an interesting one, isn't it from you know,
slightly off topic, But if you do stink, don't you
want someone to have a quiet word with you. I
worked with a guy for a while who really stunk,
and no one said anything. People just moved away from him,
and then he felt really isolated and he eventually left
the job. And I always wondered if because he was
actually a really nice guy, but he just really really stunk.
(04:30):
And if someone had just had a word to him,
a manager or something, and said, look, mate, you stink,
and people, I mean you'd say nicer than that, you
wouldn't go you stink? You might go, hey, your odor
is becoming a problem. Have you noticed that people are
moving away from you? But he just ended up thinking
everyone hated him and they left, So there you go.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Yeah, that's certainly not ideal, was it? I think I
think people are terrified of having these difficult conversations. Back
in the day, I think maybe we were a bit
more robust.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yeah, yeah, I mean obviously someone walks in you don't
want to get oh you stink, you know, but be
subtle about it. But taking someone aside you might actually
be helping them. Yeah, absolutely, it's not the New Zealand
way unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to
call if you've got a question for Gareth. Now is
your opportunity. It's always a very popular segment, so get
in now. And if you want to stay anonymous on phone,
we can certainly do that. But oh eight hundred eighty
ten eighty is the number to call. Good afternoon, and
we are joined once again by Gareth Abdenor, an employment,
workplace and information expert and director of Abdenall Employment Law.
(05:38):
He's taking your questions on oh eight hundred eighty ten
eighty Phil Your question for Gareth.
Speaker 6 (05:47):
Hi, Gareth, Yeah, I'm just calling about the sick leave,
kind of similar to the question before. And if the
employer is the maybe cause of becoming sick, how does
that factor him If the time is longer than the
allowed sick leave that the employee has.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
What did he cough on you possibly?
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Okay, okay, Yeah, that's a great question, Phil. It really
comes down to the circumstances of the particular case. If
it's a workplace injury that might be relevant in these
days or in the COVID days when people were picking
(06:30):
up COVID from people, that may be relevant. But it's
unlikely that you're going to need three months or for
getting COVID, So it really depends. I think you would
have to prove that the illness or sickness or reason
that you need to be away is as a result
(06:50):
of the workplace. Often people argue this, but then you know,
you raise a personal grievance. So I don't think that's
simply going to allow you to be away from an
extended period of.
Speaker 6 (07:03):
Time, right, So, like if there's a doctor's notes or
an incident reports that show that's the case.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Yeah, a lot of people get doctors notes that simply
repeat what the patient has told them, so that it
doesn't necessarily mean that that is the cause. I see
that all the time. So yeah, I don't think that's
(07:35):
going to qualify you for extended time away.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
I guess there's a personal agreement to the mix, so
we'll see how it plays out.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Yeah, yeah, and that's most likely the case in a
situation like that.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Well, thank if you call Phil, Welcome to the show. Taylor,
your question for Gareth?
Speaker 5 (07:54):
Okay, Gareth, we it's about ours that that I work.
We work our wages Wednesday to Windsday. So on Friday
we were told not to come into work because one
of the key persons that of the team was sick,
(08:18):
so we didn't work that day. But then we were
asked to come in on Sunday, and so we came
into work in the presumption that there was going to
be over time. We then asked our shift supervisor if
we're going to get paid for the day that we
had off on Friday, because it's not our fault. He
(08:40):
said yes. Whether we're going to be paid on Sunday,
he said yes, But lo and behold, when the wages
our paships came around, they've used the Sunday to justify
paying the forty hours that were missing because we were
off on Friday and not paid us for the Sunday
(09:04):
that we worked as extra hours over on top of
the forty so that we do. So I'm really confused
why that was done and if there is room for
us to take this further to the tribunal or someone
to advise us on.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
Yeah, that's a great question, and long time listeners of
this segment will know. The first step is have a
look at your employment agreement that will set out your
normal hours of work and it will also or should
set out when you can be asked or required to
work additional hours. In this case, it would be quite
(09:43):
surprising that if you are told not to come to
work and it's not your fault, that the company would
be permitted not to pay you for that day. And so, certainly,
from what you've told me, it sounds like you've got
a good argument to get paid for the Friday and
the Sunday, and you should be able to raise that
(10:06):
with the company without having to take get to the tribunal.
The costs of taking a case all the way to
a hearing and the authority for one day's pay may
not be cost effective, but you should be able to
negotiate this with the company.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, good luck, Taylor. Now I've got a text question
here for you, Garrison. Now, this person has harassed us
the last couple of times you've been on. So we're
going to ask it now. They keep texting the same question,
and the question is because I know you love these holiday.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Questions about the holidays as.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah, so here it is. So why aren't most public
holidays just a day off for people who work on
a Monday.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
That's something you're going to have to raise with Parliament. Unfortunately,
that's not really something I have any influence over.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Yeah there ego text and now leave us alone, please.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I know who that as is? Great New Zealand of
that texting.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yea, he's pretty good, right. Eighty ten eighty is the
number to call inge. How are you this afternoon?
Speaker 7 (11:05):
Oh sure, I'm very good.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Thank you now, gathrus Steen, you buy for your question.
Speaker 7 (11:10):
All right. So, as health professionals are, for example, living
in a small area such as say christ Church, and
they are wanting to go from one clinic to another. However,
in the contract that they may have, it restrains their
ability to trade within a five k radius. So if
(11:32):
that was to be enforced by the employer, would they
need to pay them a certain period of time before
that restraint of trade is finished? Or is it unreasonable
to be putting things like that within contracts, you know,
when we have people who may bounce to clinics that
(11:54):
are quite close.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Well, just the first thing I have to say is,
I'm slightly offended that you think christ Church is a
small place. As a crowd christ Church resident, well, I
think it's the best city in New Zealand.
Speaker 7 (12:09):
But I do agree.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
The factor the factors that get taken into account, does
the restraint go any further than is needed to protect
the employer's interests? Now, to pick up on some of
your weirding, you see some people bounce from clinic to clinic.
In situations like that, there may be an interest that
(12:40):
is being infringed upon, and so the fact that it's
a smaller city like Christchurch isn't really the determining factor. So,
you know, could that be enforced Potentially, Yes, it could,
depending on the information that the employee has access to
(13:01):
and whether they can use that to unfairly compete with
their previous employer. People always grew up about restraints, and
some people think they're totally unenforceable and they get a
really unpleasant surprise when they get an injunction against them.
Other people think that restraints that are on the face
(13:24):
of it, really unreasonable are enforceable, and that doesn't stack
up either. So it really depends.
Speaker 7 (13:32):
And what about in regards to contractors.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
Yeah, with the contractor, it all depends on what the
parties have agreed to in the contract. And if you
agree to it in the contract and it's not it
doesn't breach any anti competitive laws or anything like that,
then you know, if you've agreed to it, you bound
to it.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
There we go. Hopefully that helps.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Thank you, good luck, and thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
I've got one for you, Gareth on a text which
I find quite interesting. So I'm going to pick this
one out of the thousands coming through. Hey, Gareth, I
work for a Brethren company and have recently left. They
sent me a large severance payment. If I never talked
about them and sent me an agreement, is this on
the level? Have you heard of this before?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Well? If I had heard about it before and I
had taken the payment and signed the agreement, I wouldn't
be able to tell you. Seriously, Seriously, if if you
accept a payment to enter into what's often called a
non disclosure agreement or a confidentiality agreement, well then I
(14:42):
think that's likely to be enforceable. You've taken the payment,
you've agreed to something you know, you could choose not
to agree, and then you could you could talk about
what you want to talk about.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
As does that include legal activities? Can you sign an
NDA that covers off crimes? Not No, not saying that
in this case at all. I don't know anything about that.
I don't know a lot about Brethren. I'm not saying that.
But just generally, if someone if someone's been committing some
crimes and then that you're leaving, and they're worried that
(15:18):
you might mention that, and you sign up a big
NDA that you won't talk about it, as does the
nd A, you know supersede your you know you're right
to go to the police.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
That's a that's a great question, Matt, and I suspect
that that would be breaching all sorts of legal obligations.
But I don't think you're going to look very good
if you accept the payment saying that you're not going
to talk about it, and then you go to the police.
The best course of action in that case would be,
(15:51):
if you think crimes are being committed, go to the
police or the or the relevant authorities and.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Would you have to give the money back when you
did that? Well, and then it's a moral dilemma of
huge moral exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
H final one here and it was from a caller
we just didn't have time for. But Jim wanted to
ask about compassionate leave sick parents in Australia. Just the
rules around taking compassionate leave. How much time can you
get and what are the rules around employees giving that
compassionate leave to you?
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Yeah, that's another great question. As far as I'm aware,
there is no provision for compassionate leave in the Holidays Act.
You can get sick leave if you are caring for
someone that you look after, so that could potentially be
(16:46):
in effect here. It's more likely that this is going
to be some sort of discretionary leave that the employer
might agree to. Definitely tricky situation and not one that
should be dealt with lightly.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, very good, Gareth. Thank you again so much. We've
had Choco bloc phones and so many texts, but we'll
hold them all next time you're with us in about
a month's sime.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Fantastic, Thanks guys.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
That is Gareth abdenaor Employment, Workplace and information expert and
director of Abdenor Law Employment Law. You can check them
out at Abdenorlaw dot MZ fantastic.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
For more from News Talk SEDB, listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio
You're listening to a podcast from news Talk zed B.
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So he joins us once a month as part of
our Ask the Expert series to answer all your burning questions.
Gareth Abdenoy. He's an employment, workplace and information expert and
director of Abdena Employment Law. He's brilliant and he joins
us once again.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
It's not Egbert the Expert, the very Eggy blow. No,
we've moved on from those icons of New Zealand advertising.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah almost, Gareth, how you I'm good, thank you. Well,
just while we're on there, before we move on to employment.
The greatest New Zealand icon in your eyes, Gareth.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
It's got to be the peanut butter.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Good Ah, the put But.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
What a great jangle that was.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
We take the fritchest peanuts in the world and.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Put them in.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah. So we'll start off with some Textwaite hundred at
eighty ten eighty. If you've got a question around employment,
Lord give us a ring right now. Hey, guys, a
question for Gareth. I have a staff member who has
taken sick leave to head to a foreign country for
IVF treatment. Will be gone for three months, and I'm
just wondering what our legal standpoint is having to hold
(01:19):
her job open on a medical certificate from another country.
That's from simon.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Goodness, man, that's that's definitely a strange one. Well, the
Holidays Act provides for a certain amount of sick leave,
and that's not three months. The maximum amount that you
can have at any one time is twenty days.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
So I.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Think this person is going to be exceeding their sick leave,
and unless they've obtained an agreement from their employer, they're
going to be on shaky ground as to whether there
will be a job for them to come back to.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Is IVF technically being sick. So if you get a
because you know, I'm good on you for doing it,
but that's something you've opted to do. It's not something
that's befallen you, if you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Well, I certainly think it's a gray area. I'm not
sure that's what the sick lev entitlement was designed for,
although I'm sure you could make an argument to that effect.
I think in this case it's more the length of
time that the person's going to be away that's clearly
an issue, and could certainly have a negative impact on
the business.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Very interesting artist exercier is Hi and Gareth, is it
okay for your employer to make comments around personal appearance
to an employee, such as you look drunk, or you
smell or you look fant Are you drunk?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Well, yeah, I guess the question is does this person
look drunk and have they been drinking at work? It's
a bit of a fine line, certainly, if one of
your workers appears to be intoxicated, I definitely think you
can raise that with them, and in fact, under health
and safety obligations, you're obliged to raise that with them.
(03:08):
Saying you look batted, well, that's maybe getting into awkward territory,
and it really depends on the circumstances.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
What was the other one, tyler Well said you smell
and quotation it's not today anyway. I mean around that
personal appearance and if someone does have a bad body
odor is that I mean that must be a tricky
path to navigate if you're an employ employer.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
It is. It's an incredibly difficult one, and in fact
it's one that's actually come up reasonably often because employers
want to deal with this in the most sensitive way possible,
certainly all of the ones that I've spoken to, But
how do you raise it with someone? It's incredibly awkward.
But what do you do if someone's personal hygiene, body
(03:59):
odor is having an impact on their colleagues, on customers.
It's something that you are entitled to raise, but you
need to do so sensitively.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
It is an interesting one, isn't it from you know,
slightly off topic, But if you do stink, don't you
want someone to have a quiet word with you. I
worked with a guy for a while who really stunk,
and no one said anything. People just moved away from him,
and then he felt really isolated and he eventually left
the job. And I always wondered if because he was
actually a really nice guy, but he just really really stunk.
(04:30):
And if someone had just had a word to him,
a manager or something, and said, look, mate, you stink,
and people, I mean you'd say nicer than that, you
wouldn't go you stink? You might go, hey, your odor
is becoming a problem. Have you noticed that people are
moving away from you? But he just ended up thinking
everyone hated him and they left, So there you go.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Yeah, that's certainly not ideal, was it? I think I
think people are terrified of having these difficult conversations. Back
in the day, I think maybe we were a bit
more robust.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yeah, yeah, I mean obviously someone walks in you don't
want to get oh you stink, you know, but be
subtle about it. But taking someone aside you might actually
be helping them. Yeah, absolutely, it's not the New Zealand
way unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh eight hundred eighty ten eighty is the number to
call if you've got a question for Gareth. Now is
your opportunity. It's always a very popular segment, so get
in now. And if you want to stay anonymous on phone,
we can certainly do that. But oh eight hundred eighty
ten eighty is the number to call. Good afternoon, and
we are joined once again by Gareth Abdenor, an employment,
workplace and information expert and director of Abdenall Employment Law.
(05:38):
He's taking your questions on oh eight hundred eighty ten
eighty Phil Your question for Gareth.
Speaker 6 (05:47):
Hi, Gareth, Yeah, I'm just calling about the sick leave,
kind of similar to the question before. And if the
employer is the maybe cause of becoming sick, how does
that factor him If the time is longer than the
allowed sick leave that the employee has.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
What did he cough on you possibly?
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Okay, okay, Yeah, that's a great question, Phil. It really
comes down to the circumstances of the particular case. If
it's a workplace injury that might be relevant in these
days or in the COVID days when people were picking
(06:30):
up COVID from people, that may be relevant. But it's
unlikely that you're going to need three months or for
getting COVID, So it really depends. I think you would
have to prove that the illness or sickness or reason
that you need to be away is as a result
(06:50):
of the workplace. Often people argue this, but then you know,
you raise a personal grievance. So I don't think that's
simply going to allow you to be away from an
extended period of.
Speaker 6 (07:03):
Time, right, So, like if there's a doctor's notes or
an incident reports that show that's the case.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Yeah, a lot of people get doctors notes that simply
repeat what the patient has told them, so that it
doesn't necessarily mean that that is the cause. I see
that all the time. So yeah, I don't think that's
(07:35):
going to qualify you for extended time away.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
I guess there's a personal agreement to the mix, so
we'll see how it plays out.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Yeah, yeah, and that's most likely the case in a
situation like that.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Well, thank if you call Phil, Welcome to the show. Taylor,
your question for Gareth?
Speaker 5 (07:54):
Okay, Gareth, we it's about ours that that I work.
We work our wages Wednesday to Windsday. So on Friday
we were told not to come into work because one
of the key persons that of the team was sick,
(08:18):
so we didn't work that day. But then we were
asked to come in on Sunday, and so we came
into work in the presumption that there was going to
be over time. We then asked our shift supervisor if
we're going to get paid for the day that we
had off on Friday, because it's not our fault. He
(08:40):
said yes. Whether we're going to be paid on Sunday,
he said yes, But lo and behold, when the wages
our paships came around, they've used the Sunday to justify
paying the forty hours that were missing because we were
off on Friday and not paid us for the Sunday
(09:04):
that we worked as extra hours over on top of
the forty so that we do. So I'm really confused
why that was done and if there is room for
us to take this further to the tribunal or someone
to advise us on.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
Yeah, that's a great question, and long time listeners of
this segment will know. The first step is have a
look at your employment agreement that will set out your
normal hours of work and it will also or should
set out when you can be asked or required to
work additional hours. In this case, it would be quite
(09:43):
surprising that if you are told not to come to
work and it's not your fault, that the company would
be permitted not to pay you for that day. And so, certainly,
from what you've told me, it sounds like you've got
a good argument to get paid for the Friday and
the Sunday, and you should be able to raise that
(10:06):
with the company without having to take get to the tribunal.
The costs of taking a case all the way to
a hearing and the authority for one day's pay may
not be cost effective, but you should be able to
negotiate this with the company.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, good luck, Taylor. Now I've got a text question
here for you, Garrison. Now, this person has harassed us
the last couple of times you've been on. So we're
going to ask it now. They keep texting the same question,
and the question is because I know you love these holiday.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Questions about the holidays as.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah, so here it is. So why aren't most public
holidays just a day off for people who work on
a Monday.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
That's something you're going to have to raise with Parliament. Unfortunately,
that's not really something I have any influence over.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Yeah there ego text and now leave us alone, please.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I know who that as is? Great New Zealand of
that texting.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yea, he's pretty good, right. Eighty ten eighty is the
number to call inge. How are you this afternoon?
Speaker 7 (11:05):
Oh sure, I'm very good.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Thank you now, gathrus Steen, you buy for your question.
Speaker 7 (11:10):
All right. So, as health professionals are, for example, living
in a small area such as say christ Church, and
they are wanting to go from one clinic to another. However,
in the contract that they may have, it restrains their
ability to trade within a five k radius. So if
(11:32):
that was to be enforced by the employer, would they
need to pay them a certain period of time before
that restraint of trade is finished? Or is it unreasonable
to be putting things like that within contracts, you know,
when we have people who may bounce to clinics that
(11:54):
are quite close.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Well, just the first thing I have to say is,
I'm slightly offended that you think christ Church is a
small place. As a crowd christ Church resident, well, I
think it's the best city in New Zealand.
Speaker 7 (12:09):
But I do agree.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
The factor the factors that get taken into account, does
the restraint go any further than is needed to protect
the employer's interests? Now, to pick up on some of
your weirding, you see some people bounce from clinic to clinic.
In situations like that, there may be an interest that
(12:40):
is being infringed upon, and so the fact that it's
a smaller city like Christchurch isn't really the determining factor. So,
you know, could that be enforced Potentially, Yes, it could,
depending on the information that the employee has access to
(13:01):
and whether they can use that to unfairly compete with
their previous employer. People always grew up about restraints, and
some people think they're totally unenforceable and they get a
really unpleasant surprise when they get an injunction against them.
Other people think that restraints that are on the face
(13:24):
of it, really unreasonable are enforceable, and that doesn't stack
up either. So it really depends.
Speaker 7 (13:32):
And what about in regards to contractors.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
Yeah, with the contractor, it all depends on what the
parties have agreed to in the contract. And if you
agree to it in the contract and it's not it
doesn't breach any anti competitive laws or anything like that,
then you know, if you've agreed to it, you bound
to it.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
There we go. Hopefully that helps.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Thank you, good luck, and thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
I've got one for you, Gareth on a text which
I find quite interesting. So I'm going to pick this
one out of the thousands coming through. Hey, Gareth, I
work for a Brethren company and have recently left. They
sent me a large severance payment. If I never talked
about them and sent me an agreement, is this on
the level? Have you heard of this before?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Well? If I had heard about it before and I
had taken the payment and signed the agreement, I wouldn't
be able to tell you. Seriously, Seriously, if if you
accept a payment to enter into what's often called a
non disclosure agreement or a confidentiality agreement, well then I
(14:42):
think that's likely to be enforceable. You've taken the payment,
you've agreed to something you know, you could choose not
to agree, and then you could you could talk about
what you want to talk about.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
As does that include legal activities? Can you sign an
NDA that covers off crimes? Not No, not saying that
in this case at all. I don't know anything about that.
I don't know a lot about Brethren. I'm not saying that.
But just generally, if someone if someone's been committing some
crimes and then that you're leaving, and they're worried that
(15:18):
you might mention that, and you sign up a big
NDA that you won't talk about it, as does the
nd A, you know supersede your you know you're right
to go to the police.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
That's a that's a great question, Matt, and I suspect
that that would be breaching all sorts of legal obligations.
But I don't think you're going to look very good
if you accept the payment saying that you're not going
to talk about it, and then you go to the police.
The best course of action in that case would be,
(15:51):
if you think crimes are being committed, go to the
police or the or the relevant authorities and.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Would you have to give the money back when you
did that? Well, and then it's a moral dilemma of
huge moral exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
H final one here and it was from a caller
we just didn't have time for. But Jim wanted to
ask about compassionate leave sick parents in Australia. Just the
rules around taking compassionate leave. How much time can you
get and what are the rules around employees giving that
compassionate leave to you?
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Yeah, that's another great question. As far as I'm aware,
there is no provision for compassionate leave in the Holidays Act.
You can get sick leave if you are caring for
someone that you look after, so that could potentially be
(16:46):
in effect here. It's more likely that this is going
to be some sort of discretionary leave that the employer
might agree to. Definitely tricky situation and not one that
should be dealt with lightly.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, very good, Gareth. Thank you again so much. We've
had Choco bloc phones and so many texts, but we'll
hold them all next time you're with us in about
a month's sime.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Fantastic, Thanks guys.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
That is Gareth abdenaor Employment, Workplace and information expert and
director of Abdenor Law Employment Law. You can check them
out at Abdenorlaw dot MZ fantastic.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
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