June 18, 2025 • 17 mins
This week on Ask The Expert, Gareth Abdinor from Abdinor Employment Law joined the Afternoons team to unpack workplace-based questions.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks'd be follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
As we always do on a Wednesday, Ask the Expert
series and today Beck and Studio. Gareth abdenaw is an employment,
workplace and information expert and director of abden or Law.
He is taking all your questions, no matter how curly,
on any issues you've got at your workplace. If you
are the boss, if you're the worker, he is the
man to chat to. Gareth, mate, good to see you today, guys.
(00:39):
And when I say see you, we I don't know
why it took us so long to get this rolling.
We've got our zoom operational. You're down in the christ
Church studio, my old studio, and it's good to actually
see you mate. You looking well?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah, I want to know why you guys have got
better lighting. This is just really reinforcing the old adage
that I've got a face made for radio.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Ha ha awesome. I'm just looking behind you, Gareth. And
they've started taking away the tellies in the christ Church studio.
So I leave christ Church and all of a sudden,
no more tellies. But there you go. How's that lighting?
For it wasn't take what you want out of that studio, Gareth,
I don't need it anymore.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
I didn't know that Andrew Produce had the power to
put on full high beam lights.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
In a TV studio.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Well, that's right, that is it's just reflecting off my head.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I need some I need a welding mask.
Speaker 5 (01:25):
Right now?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Is your opportunity, Oh, eight hundred and eighty ten eighty
is the number to call. And if you want to
text through, you more than welcome. Nine to nine to two, Gareth.
I've come in thick and fast, so we'll get straight
into it with this one. Hey, guys, my wife works
in retail, so it was not allowed to take holidays
during November or December, leaving her ten months of the
year to take holidays. Because one of her permanent days
(01:48):
is a Saturday and they are permanently short staff, she
is never allowed to take one or two weeks at
a time because there was no one to cover her
Saturday shift. I'm sure this is illegal. Can you please advise?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Yeah, I mean the issue of not being able to
take holidays over the Christmas period, that's not unusual in retail,
but the inability to take a week or two of
holiday at a time that is an issue, and you
do need to allow your staff to take a period
(02:23):
of leave rather than a day here or a day there.
So this is one of those situations where the caller's
wife might want to constructively raise this with the employer.
You know, it's a health and safety risk as well,
and the employer's got to think about do they want
to run the risk of a stress claim, because if
(02:45):
you're not actually getting getting time to take an extended break,
then you're going to be stressed out, You're going to
be tired, you must probably not going to be performing
at your best.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, good answer.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
We'll go to James A. You've had a complaint later
against you at work?
Speaker 6 (03:03):
Yeah, I did. It was a little while ago now,
but I had one of the people in my team
lay a bullying complaint against me, which I thought was
pretty unfair at the time given what had happened. Anyway,
we went through a process of about ten weeks of
there an investigation being shut up and all that sort
(03:23):
of stuff, and this person's complaint was circulated to some
senior management within the company a day or two before
the investigation was due to start. I was told of
the complaints being dropped, but also, this person is now
no longer going to report to you, but you're still
going to be working in the same team. So I said,
(03:44):
I wasn't happy with that at the time. I felt
that we should have been going ahead with the investigation.
And I'm just wondering whether there's any obligation on the
part of the company to investigate a claim like that
given the circumstances.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yeah, that's a really tricky situation, both for you and
for your employer. The difficulty that employers often grapple with
is where someone's unhappy, they make a complaint, but they
either withdraw the complaint, as appears to have been the
case here, or they want the complaint to be kept confidential.
(04:20):
Now it's pretty tricky for an employer because arguably you've
still got to do an investigation if the concern's being raised. Now,
this seems incredibly unfair for you because you've gone through
all of the upset of having that complaint made against you,
(04:40):
all the preliminary steps, and so there is an argument that, yes,
the investigation should have gone ahead, But as a practical matter,
I think the fact that it was withdrawn is most
probably a good thing, and you never really know what
investigations are going to show. And you know, investigators tried
(05:01):
their best, but they aren't there. They don't actually know
what happened, and so even though you've done nothing wrong,
there's no guarantee that that's what the outcome would be.
So I'd be inclined to just chalk it up as
a negative experience and move on. Of course, if there
are more issues with this teammate, I would really be
(05:23):
on my guard. And if you start feeling uncomfortable, then
it's your turn to raise a complaint.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Thank of you all, James. It's an interesting one, isn't it.
Is there any pushback against I guess, low level complaints
of bullying or erroneous complaints of bullying, or people using
complaints of bullying as a way to you know, for
their own career, or punishment because they don't like someone,
Because that must happen quite quite a lot, right.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Oh definitely. You know. I sometimes joke that there hasn't
been a single person who's been performance managed that hasn't
claimed bullying. It's almost guaranteed these days, and I think
I think some of this comes from a lot of
managers don't actually have any management training. And you know
(06:15):
it was key with none of us want to be
the bad guy or bad girl, and so we have
a bit of difficulty managing people sometimes and as soon
as you do try and manage someone, you get accused
of being of being a bully.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Do you find with the smaller businesses they are a
bit more lost at seeing those situations because they're not
big enough to have an HR department. When that situation unfolds,
clearly they should speak to someone like you, Gareth, but
they feel a bit lost about what to do and
how to deal with it.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Oh, definitely. I mean you look at New Zealand's economy.
It's made up mainly of small and medium enterprises. You know,
someone in their partner and maybe an apprentice or something
like that. It's pretty difficult to navigate the complexities of
employment law and you know getting advice this is not cheap.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Yeah, well, Tyler gave me a pretty i'd say, pretty
lame thank you for a coffee that I got on there.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I bully him every day, Garrett. These raise complaints, It
doesn't get anyway.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
It doesn't ask for it, he does.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
It was a microaggression not thanking me enough for the coffee.
I got it.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I remember there for tomorrow. Oh eight one hundred and
eighty ten eighty is the number to call if you've
got a question or concern at your place of work,
if you're the boss or the worker. Gareth Abdenall is
in studio with US Employment, Workplace and Information expert and
director of abdenor Employment Law. A few texts coming through
on nine to nine two. This one get a Gareth,
(07:45):
I work two jobs. The boss of one of my
jobs wants to change my hours which conflict with my
other job. Do I need to accept the change of
hours they are set in my contract from June?
Speaker 3 (07:56):
It really depends on what else is in your contract.
A lot of contracts have a clause that the employer
can vary the hours if there's a genuine business reason
for it, as long as they consult with you first.
Of course, there is that overlying duty to act reasonably.
So I guess the question is why does the boss
(08:18):
of one of the jobs want to change this person's
hours and in the agreement are they legally entitled to?
You know, I'd have a discussion with them. There may
be a genuine reason, and if you don't agree to it,
they may do a restructure and disestablish the role. So
you know, try and be constructive and try and find
(08:38):
a way that works for both of you.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I imagine that it could be also quite tricky, Gareth, if
she if that's this person is working two jobs and
one of the bosses doesn't know about the other job.
That can create some tension, right that, if they don't
know you're working another position and you're not giving your
full attention to the job that you're yet you're employed
to do.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah. Yeah, so your employer can't prevent you from having
a second job, but they can prevent you from having
a second job if it conflicts with with your obligates
under that job. And you know, this is kind of
one of those situations, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah, keep those takes coming through a nine to nine two.
But let's go to the phones. Joe, you've got a
question for Gareth.
Speaker 7 (09:21):
Oh, hey, DoD Gareth. I'm Joe here. Hi i am
I am a manager of a company at a small company.
I've got a new recruit. He's just four months old.
He's got a probation period of six months, so going forward,
we would not like to continue with him. So I
(09:42):
would like to know would be the consequences that I'll
have to face if I give him a notice.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Yeah, if you give the person notice now and you
haven't gone through the process that's set out in the contract,
it could be very expensive, indeed, because it would most
likely be an unfair dismissal, and they may get compensation,
they may get lost wages, and of course they may
(10:10):
be reinstated to their roles. So you may dismiss this
person and then find that the court says they are
entitled to come back. So I would strongly suggest that
in a situation like this you take some advice or
at a very minimum, follow the process that's set out
in the agreement in the probationary period. I know two
(10:32):
months seems like a long time, but if you get
this wrong, it's going to cost you a lot more
than two months wages.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
All right, But in my agreement, it clearly states that
the probation within the probation period, the notice pit is
just one week, So I just need to give him
a week's notice, right.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Well, you need to follow the process that's set out,
so you can't under a probationary period. It's not like
a trial period. You can't just tell someone that it's
not working out and they need to go. You still
have to act in good faith and you have to
consult with them. So this is not really straight forward
ABC type thing. I strongly suggest that you get some
(11:13):
advice on this one, because if you get it wrong,
it's going to be expensive.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
So good luck, good luck, all right, thank you, all right,
thank you very much.
Speaker 7 (11:22):
Dan.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
How are you this afternoon?
Speaker 7 (11:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Mate? You good yourself?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (11:26):
Good?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Gareth is standing my good Gareth.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
I'm a pretty much a leading hand here at this
construction industry. We work in civil and infrastructure and all that.
So pretty much what my issue was, I've pretty much
started probably two weeks ago, and as the last week
had gone by, I had been paid in short due
(11:52):
to a few opinions that my employer reckons that you know,
sort of for the public holiday. So what's happened is
I started about two weeks ago on the Monday, which
we all know was a public holiday or King's birthday,
and they clearly stayed to my contract also. But with that,
with that start date, he had pretty much affwarded me
(12:16):
another email saying, can we have you start on the third,
which on a Tuesday, and then well pretty much following
up to my next pay week. I was paid short
eight LS, and I pretty much argued the point with him,
but he reckons that. Oh he sent me a follow
up email saying that the third is my start date,
(12:37):
which then avoids him paying eight LS. Just wanting to
know any way around this or if if he's correct
or if I'm incorrect.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Gosh, that sounds a bit rough. Not a great way
to start off an employment relationship, is it.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Not?
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Really?
Speaker 5 (12:52):
I mean, I'm not really looking to battle it out either,
because I'm not a bit worried that I'll lose all
the benefits that I do have at the moment, which
is not in my contract.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
But you know, yeah, definitely, it really depends on what
was actually agreed. If it was agreed that the Monday
would be your start date, I think you've got a
very good case that you should be paid for the
public holiday. An employer can't just change your start date
(13:23):
if that has already been agreed, and if that was
agreed in the contract and both people signed it, well,
I think it's going to be a bit difficult for
your employer to argue that it changed.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
As you said before, do you really want to die
in a ditch over this one? It's eight hours pay
and you know, if your employer is adamant that he's right,
even if he's not, things are going to get unpleasant
and you may choose just to swallow it on this occasion.
(14:01):
But yeah, it doesn't seem right, and I wouldn't be
very happy if it was me.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Yeah, it's just it's a hard one. Like at one
time you don't really want to battle it out and lose,
you know, the good faith of your employers. But then
the other hand, you don't really want to be taken
advantage of as well.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
So totally, And I guess the thing I would be
thinking is, you know, if someone wants to screw me
out of a day's public holidays, is that someone that
I really want to be working with? And you know,
maybe maybe you should be looking for other opportunities.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, probably right than end.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yet, good luck and a bit to think about there.
This is an interesting question.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Hi.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
I own a retail shop with security cameras covering the
sales floor and office. The cameras record audio as well
as video. But as far as my employees know, it's
just video. Do I have to let them know that
it's covering audio as well?
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Yes? Yeah, And why are you recording audio?
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Thanks?
Speaker 4 (15:06):
The recording audio makes it and such another level, doesn't
it totally creepiness?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
I'd be really uncomfortable with that if if I was
one of the employees, and I'd be going, well, hang on,
why are you spying on me? You know, you've you've
got to have a genuine, reasonable reason to record people
in the workplace. Now, video surveillances is not unusual. There's
there's really good health and safety reasons for that. There's
(15:35):
security reasons for that. But why are you recording audio?
You know, just turn it.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Off and look, you'll hear them backstabbing about you. And
that's what they do that people, employees backstad about their bosses.
It's just how they get let out steam and you
just feel bad.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
You don't want to hear it.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You do not want to hear it.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
You don't want to hear what your employees are saying
about you.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
And if they find out that you are recording audio
and you haven't told them, not only are they going
to have grounds for personal grievance. They are also going
to have grounds to make a complaint to the Privacy
Commissioner and and it's going to be all bad. So
we don't do it.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
The recording audio on our workplace, Tyler.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
How dare they that I'm taking people by?
Speaker 4 (16:18):
They're blatant with these big microphones in our faces? And Gareth,
how many times this text ass? Can a twelvemonth fixed
term role be rolled on before it becomes permanent?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Ah Corross. So there's some large organizations in New Zealand
that make a habit of these rolling twelve month fixed
term contracts, and I think they are shaky as here legally,
and if anyone tests it, the organizations might be running
for the hills. You've got to have a genuine business
(16:52):
reason to have a fixed term agreement, and one of
those reasons can't be that you're not sure about funding.
The courts have made it very clear that in a
situation like that, if there's not enough funding, then you
need to have a restructure. So I can't see many
good reasons for a rolling twelvemonth fixed term contract.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Brilliant as always, Gareth, that's all the time that we have.
But thank you very much as always, and we'll see
you back in about a month.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Fantastic, Thanks guys.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Stay warm down there. How cool is it?
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Oh, it's lovely blue skies.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Tell wonderful Christ.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Here it's thirty one degrees Here in our studious I've
pumped the air conditioning right up to test Tyler's resolve.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Outrageous See another HR complaint. Isn't it all right? That
is Gareth abden Or here is an employment, workplace and
information expert and director of Abdenor Employment Laura. If you
want to get a hold of him, Abdenorlaw dot enz.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
For more from News Talks B listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks'd be follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
As we always do on a Wednesday, Ask the Expert
series and today Beck and Studio. Gareth abdenaw is an employment,
workplace and information expert and director of abden or Law.
He is taking all your questions, no matter how curly,
on any issues you've got at your workplace. If you
are the boss, if you're the worker, he is the
man to chat to. Gareth, mate, good to see you today, guys.
(00:39):
And when I say see you, we I don't know
why it took us so long to get this rolling.
We've got our zoom operational. You're down in the christ
Church studio, my old studio, and it's good to actually
see you mate. You looking well?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah, I want to know why you guys have got
better lighting. This is just really reinforcing the old adage
that I've got a face made for radio.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Ha ha awesome. I'm just looking behind you, Gareth. And
they've started taking away the tellies in the christ Church studio.
So I leave christ Church and all of a sudden,
no more tellies. But there you go. How's that lighting?
For it wasn't take what you want out of that studio, Gareth,
I don't need it anymore.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
I didn't know that Andrew Produce had the power to
put on full high beam lights.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
In a TV studio.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Well, that's right, that is it's just reflecting off my head.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I need some I need a welding mask.
Speaker 5 (01:25):
Right now?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Is your opportunity, Oh, eight hundred and eighty ten eighty
is the number to call. And if you want to
text through, you more than welcome. Nine to nine to two, Gareth.
I've come in thick and fast, so we'll get straight
into it with this one. Hey, guys, my wife works
in retail, so it was not allowed to take holidays
during November or December, leaving her ten months of the
year to take holidays. Because one of her permanent days
(01:48):
is a Saturday and they are permanently short staff, she
is never allowed to take one or two weeks at
a time because there was no one to cover her
Saturday shift. I'm sure this is illegal. Can you please advise?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Yeah, I mean the issue of not being able to
take holidays over the Christmas period, that's not unusual in retail,
but the inability to take a week or two of
holiday at a time that is an issue, and you
do need to allow your staff to take a period
(02:23):
of leave rather than a day here or a day there.
So this is one of those situations where the caller's
wife might want to constructively raise this with the employer.
You know, it's a health and safety risk as well,
and the employer's got to think about do they want
to run the risk of a stress claim, because if
(02:45):
you're not actually getting getting time to take an extended break,
then you're going to be stressed out, You're going to
be tired, you must probably not going to be performing
at your best.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, good answer.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
We'll go to James A. You've had a complaint later
against you at work?
Speaker 6 (03:03):
Yeah, I did. It was a little while ago now,
but I had one of the people in my team
lay a bullying complaint against me, which I thought was
pretty unfair at the time given what had happened. Anyway,
we went through a process of about ten weeks of
there an investigation being shut up and all that sort
(03:23):
of stuff, and this person's complaint was circulated to some
senior management within the company a day or two before
the investigation was due to start. I was told of
the complaints being dropped, but also, this person is now
no longer going to report to you, but you're still
going to be working in the same team. So I said,
(03:44):
I wasn't happy with that at the time. I felt
that we should have been going ahead with the investigation.
And I'm just wondering whether there's any obligation on the
part of the company to investigate a claim like that
given the circumstances.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yeah, that's a really tricky situation, both for you and
for your employer. The difficulty that employers often grapple with
is where someone's unhappy, they make a complaint, but they
either withdraw the complaint, as appears to have been the
case here, or they want the complaint to be kept confidential.
(04:20):
Now it's pretty tricky for an employer because arguably you've
still got to do an investigation if the concern's being raised. Now,
this seems incredibly unfair for you because you've gone through
all of the upset of having that complaint made against you,
(04:40):
all the preliminary steps, and so there is an argument that, yes,
the investigation should have gone ahead, But as a practical matter,
I think the fact that it was withdrawn is most
probably a good thing, and you never really know what
investigations are going to show. And you know, investigators tried
(05:01):
their best, but they aren't there. They don't actually know
what happened, and so even though you've done nothing wrong,
there's no guarantee that that's what the outcome would be.
So I'd be inclined to just chalk it up as
a negative experience and move on. Of course, if there
are more issues with this teammate, I would really be
(05:23):
on my guard. And if you start feeling uncomfortable, then
it's your turn to raise a complaint.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Thank of you all, James. It's an interesting one, isn't it.
Is there any pushback against I guess, low level complaints
of bullying or erroneous complaints of bullying, or people using
complaints of bullying as a way to you know, for
their own career, or punishment because they don't like someone,
Because that must happen quite quite a lot, right.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Oh definitely. You know. I sometimes joke that there hasn't
been a single person who's been performance managed that hasn't
claimed bullying. It's almost guaranteed these days, and I think
I think some of this comes from a lot of
managers don't actually have any management training. And you know
(06:15):
it was key with none of us want to be
the bad guy or bad girl, and so we have
a bit of difficulty managing people sometimes and as soon
as you do try and manage someone, you get accused
of being of being a bully.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Do you find with the smaller businesses they are a
bit more lost at seeing those situations because they're not
big enough to have an HR department. When that situation unfolds,
clearly they should speak to someone like you, Gareth, but
they feel a bit lost about what to do and
how to deal with it.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Oh, definitely. I mean you look at New Zealand's economy.
It's made up mainly of small and medium enterprises. You know,
someone in their partner and maybe an apprentice or something
like that. It's pretty difficult to navigate the complexities of
employment law and you know getting advice this is not cheap.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Yeah, well, Tyler gave me a pretty i'd say, pretty
lame thank you for a coffee that I got on there.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I bully him every day, Garrett. These raise complaints, It
doesn't get anyway.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
It doesn't ask for it, he does.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
It was a microaggression not thanking me enough for the coffee.
I got it.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I remember there for tomorrow. Oh eight one hundred and
eighty ten eighty is the number to call if you've
got a question or concern at your place of work,
if you're the boss or the worker. Gareth Abdenall is
in studio with US Employment, Workplace and Information expert and
director of abdenor Employment Law. A few texts coming through
on nine to nine two. This one get a Gareth,
(07:45):
I work two jobs. The boss of one of my
jobs wants to change my hours which conflict with my
other job. Do I need to accept the change of
hours they are set in my contract from June?
Speaker 3 (07:56):
It really depends on what else is in your contract.
A lot of contracts have a clause that the employer
can vary the hours if there's a genuine business reason
for it, as long as they consult with you first.
Of course, there is that overlying duty to act reasonably.
So I guess the question is why does the boss
(08:18):
of one of the jobs want to change this person's
hours and in the agreement are they legally entitled to?
You know, I'd have a discussion with them. There may
be a genuine reason, and if you don't agree to it,
they may do a restructure and disestablish the role. So
you know, try and be constructive and try and find
(08:38):
a way that works for both of you.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I imagine that it could be also quite tricky, Gareth, if
she if that's this person is working two jobs and
one of the bosses doesn't know about the other job.
That can create some tension, right that, if they don't
know you're working another position and you're not giving your
full attention to the job that you're yet you're employed
to do.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah. Yeah, so your employer can't prevent you from having
a second job, but they can prevent you from having
a second job if it conflicts with with your obligates
under that job. And you know, this is kind of
one of those situations, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah, keep those takes coming through a nine to nine two.
But let's go to the phones. Joe, you've got a
question for Gareth.
Speaker 7 (09:21):
Oh, hey, DoD Gareth. I'm Joe here. Hi i am
I am a manager of a company at a small company.
I've got a new recruit. He's just four months old.
He's got a probation period of six months, so going forward,
we would not like to continue with him. So I
(09:42):
would like to know would be the consequences that I'll
have to face if I give him a notice.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Yeah, if you give the person notice now and you
haven't gone through the process that's set out in the contract,
it could be very expensive, indeed, because it would most
likely be an unfair dismissal, and they may get compensation,
they may get lost wages, and of course they may
(10:10):
be reinstated to their roles. So you may dismiss this
person and then find that the court says they are
entitled to come back. So I would strongly suggest that
in a situation like this you take some advice or
at a very minimum, follow the process that's set out
in the agreement in the probationary period. I know two
(10:32):
months seems like a long time, but if you get
this wrong, it's going to cost you a lot more
than two months wages.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
All right, But in my agreement, it clearly states that
the probation within the probation period, the notice pit is
just one week, So I just need to give him
a week's notice, right.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Well, you need to follow the process that's set out,
so you can't under a probationary period. It's not like
a trial period. You can't just tell someone that it's
not working out and they need to go. You still
have to act in good faith and you have to
consult with them. So this is not really straight forward
ABC type thing. I strongly suggest that you get some
(11:13):
advice on this one, because if you get it wrong,
it's going to be expensive.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
So good luck, good luck, all right, thank you, all right,
thank you very much.
Speaker 7 (11:22):
Dan.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
How are you this afternoon?
Speaker 7 (11:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Mate? You good yourself?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (11:26):
Good?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Gareth is standing my good Gareth.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
I'm a pretty much a leading hand here at this
construction industry. We work in civil and infrastructure and all that.
So pretty much what my issue was, I've pretty much
started probably two weeks ago, and as the last week
had gone by, I had been paid in short due
(11:52):
to a few opinions that my employer reckons that you know,
sort of for the public holiday. So what's happened is
I started about two weeks ago on the Monday, which
we all know was a public holiday or King's birthday,
and they clearly stayed to my contract also. But with that,
with that start date, he had pretty much affwarded me
(12:16):
another email saying, can we have you start on the third,
which on a Tuesday, and then well pretty much following
up to my next pay week. I was paid short
eight LS, and I pretty much argued the point with him,
but he reckons that. Oh he sent me a follow
up email saying that the third is my start date,
(12:37):
which then avoids him paying eight LS. Just wanting to
know any way around this or if if he's correct
or if I'm incorrect.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Gosh, that sounds a bit rough. Not a great way
to start off an employment relationship, is it.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Not?
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Really?
Speaker 5 (12:52):
I mean, I'm not really looking to battle it out either,
because I'm not a bit worried that I'll lose all
the benefits that I do have at the moment, which
is not in my contract.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
But you know, yeah, definitely, it really depends on what
was actually agreed. If it was agreed that the Monday
would be your start date, I think you've got a
very good case that you should be paid for the
public holiday. An employer can't just change your start date
(13:23):
if that has already been agreed, and if that was
agreed in the contract and both people signed it, well,
I think it's going to be a bit difficult for
your employer to argue that it changed.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
As you said before, do you really want to die
in a ditch over this one? It's eight hours pay
and you know, if your employer is adamant that he's right,
even if he's not, things are going to get unpleasant
and you may choose just to swallow it on this occasion.
(14:01):
But yeah, it doesn't seem right, and I wouldn't be
very happy if it was me.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Yeah, it's just it's a hard one. Like at one
time you don't really want to battle it out and lose,
you know, the good faith of your employers. But then
the other hand, you don't really want to be taken
advantage of as well.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
So totally, And I guess the thing I would be
thinking is, you know, if someone wants to screw me
out of a day's public holidays, is that someone that
I really want to be working with? And you know,
maybe maybe you should be looking for other opportunities.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, probably right than end.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yet, good luck and a bit to think about there.
This is an interesting question.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Hi.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
I own a retail shop with security cameras covering the
sales floor and office. The cameras record audio as well
as video. But as far as my employees know, it's
just video. Do I have to let them know that
it's covering audio as well?
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Yes? Yeah, And why are you recording audio?
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Thanks?
Speaker 4 (15:06):
The recording audio makes it and such another level, doesn't
it totally creepiness?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
I'd be really uncomfortable with that if if I was
one of the employees, and I'd be going, well, hang on,
why are you spying on me? You know, you've you've
got to have a genuine, reasonable reason to record people
in the workplace. Now, video surveillances is not unusual. There's
there's really good health and safety reasons for that. There's
(15:35):
security reasons for that. But why are you recording audio?
You know, just turn it.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Off and look, you'll hear them backstabbing about you. And
that's what they do that people, employees backstad about their bosses.
It's just how they get let out steam and you
just feel bad.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
You don't want to hear it.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You do not want to hear it.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
You don't want to hear what your employees are saying
about you.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
And if they find out that you are recording audio
and you haven't told them, not only are they going
to have grounds for personal grievance. They are also going
to have grounds to make a complaint to the Privacy
Commissioner and and it's going to be all bad. So
we don't do it.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
The recording audio on our workplace, Tyler.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
How dare they that I'm taking people by?
Speaker 4 (16:18):
They're blatant with these big microphones in our faces? And Gareth,
how many times this text ass? Can a twelvemonth fixed
term role be rolled on before it becomes permanent?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Ah Corross. So there's some large organizations in New Zealand
that make a habit of these rolling twelve month fixed
term contracts, and I think they are shaky as here legally,
and if anyone tests it, the organizations might be running
for the hills. You've got to have a genuine business
(16:52):
reason to have a fixed term agreement, and one of
those reasons can't be that you're not sure about funding.
The courts have made it very clear that in a
situation like that, if there's not enough funding, then you
need to have a restructure. So I can't see many
good reasons for a rolling twelvemonth fixed term contract.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Brilliant as always, Gareth, that's all the time that we have.
But thank you very much as always, and we'll see
you back in about a month.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Fantastic, Thanks guys.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Stay warm down there. How cool is it?
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Oh, it's lovely blue skies.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Tell wonderful Christ.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Here it's thirty one degrees Here in our studious I've
pumped the air conditioning right up to test Tyler's resolve.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Outrageous See another HR complaint. Isn't it all right? That
is Gareth abden Or here is an employment, workplace and
information expert and director of Abdenor Employment Laura. If you
want to get a hold of him, Abdenorlaw dot enz.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
For more from News Talks B listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcast on iHeartRadio
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