Cambridge Business Chamber Cornerstone Partners, People in Mind, bring us an insightful update on HR and employment law in 2020:
2020 will see three key changes in the employment law space:
1. On 1 April the minimum wage increases to $18.90. We are encouraging our clients to think and plan for wage increases for their team now, even if the increases don’t kick in straight away.
2. On 27 June, new legislation around triangular employment relationships will come into force. This will largely affect our clients who hire labour through agencies. If you do use agencies to hire temporary staff, we encourage you to get better acquainted with this important change to employment law as it may have consequences for you.
3. From 1 July this year, government funded parental leave payments will increase from 22 weeks to 26 weeks.
We’ve themed 2020 - now’s a great time! And now is a great time to focus on ticking off some of those items on your HR job-list, starting with thinking about your overall approach to wages this year.
Now's also a great time to get some of those policies in place you've been thinking about – our top 5 recommendations:
§ professional development support
§ personal presentation standards
§ drugs & alcohol in the workplace
§ smoking & vaping
§ GPS in your vehicles
Now is a great time to update your staff hand book (or put one in place if you haven't got one). We recommend keeping it simple and having more detailed policies to refer to when the need arises.
And last but not least - now is a great time to review your employment agreements, especially if you haven’t looked at them for 2+ years (as they will now be out of kilter with the legislation). The clauses our clients most frequently asked for in 2019 included:
§ more flexible wording around hours
§ clearer wording around annual leave requests with a focus on prior approval
§ flexible hours clauses to help manage business demand better
§ protection of intellectual property
§ restraint of trade provisions
§ plain English wording
People in Mind can assist you with anything HR and especially with any of the above, give them a
call (07 823 3250) or send them an email (info@peopleinmind.co.nz).
This information was supplied by People in Mind.