Legal articles & publications

Government has announced that it has accepted all the Holidays Act Taskforce’s recommendations and expects to introduce legislation in 2022.  It is universally accepted that most employers have experienced some difficulty in calculating accrual and payment of employee holiday entitlements.  In recent years, many employers have been required to recalculate employee holiday entitlements and there have been significant pay-outs to correct errors. 

The Government has recently introduced the Incorporated Societies Bill into Parliament. The Bill has been long-awaited, having been out for public consultation since 2015. It updates the Incorporated Societies Act which was first enacted in 1908.

A new subsidy has been released following the rise in Alert Levels on 28 February 2021. This subsidy is designed to help employers and self-employed people continue to pay workers and protect jobs for affected businesses.

If you are looking to buy a business or sell your business in 2021, you will need to be familiar with the new purchase price allocation rules. To date, there has been no requirement for buyers and sellers to agree on an allocated purchase price between assets when buying/selling a business but A recent proposal from IRD will see agreement on purchase price allocation between buyers and sellers become a requirement as of 1 July 2021.

The Government has announced its plan to combat New Zealand’s buoyant housing market. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, and other key Ministers detailed the changes intended to cool the market by removing incentives for speculators while also aiming to increase the housing supply.

Here in New Zealand we have been incredibly fortunate to have had almost unparalleled liberties over the last 12 months.  Thus far, the impact of COVID-19 has been comparatively minor for many businesses, hospitality and tourism being among the obvious exceptions.  Overseas, rolling business restrictions and lockdowns have caused enormous business losses.  Government support has mitigated these losses somewhat, but business owners are also looking to their business interruption insurers to foot the bill. 

On 19 February 2021 the UK Supreme Court handed down its decision in the high profile Uber driver case. In Aslam and others v Uber BV and others Uber drivers were regarded by the company as self-employed but are in fact workers.

In July 2019, the Supreme Court in Xu v IAG confirmed that EQ insurance claim assignees are only entitled to be indemnified under the assigned insurance claim. This means that assignees of private insurance house claims are only compensated for their actual loss; usually the reduction in market value of the property due to the EQ damage or depreciated replacement or repair costs, which allows for the age and condition of the property.

For some time, we have been predicting another wave of litigation, specifically claims against professionals, arising out of the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes. Unfortunately, our predictions seem to be coming to fruition.

Wynn Williams is often instructed in relation to complaints against lawyers. Here in New Zealand, the lawyers’ Conduct and Client Care Rules provide a framework by which to assess lawyers’ work for their clients.

There can be no doubt that all employers have a duty to provide conditions of employment that allow people to be, and stay, healthy. However, there is no cut and dried demarcation when it comes to the question of whether an employer can make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for its employees.

Due to COVID, this year kiwis will be holidaying in New Zealand, not overseas. It might not be the most festive thing to think about before you head off for the summer, but try to make time to consider your insurance. Here are four quick tips, specially selected for NZ staycations: