If you’re a member of a blended family you may be thinking about how to provide financially for your new spouse or partner, and your adult children from a previous relationship. You may be quite happy to provide for your spouse or partner in the event of your death. You may not be so keen, however, for your assets to then pass to your partner’s children on your partner’s death.
With the average age of New Zealand farmers rising, many farmers are facing the challenge of deciding what will happen to the farm after they have gone. What is needed is a formal farm succession plan.
The law relating to cartels is changing and the changes will impose criminal sanctions on people or corporates involved in cartels. This article explains the reasons for the new legislation and how those changes will affect commercial behaviour.
The Kiwi ‘Yeah… nah… she’ll be right’ attitude might endear New Zealanders to the world, but the recent High Court case of Kerr v Lee1 made it clear that such an approach is not enough to satisfy conditions under an Agreement for Sale and Purchase. This article outlines the impact on property owners of that decision and the importance of understanding the obligations to attempt to satisfy conditions. It also gives advice on how purchasers can avoid breaching those obligations.
Workplace bullying is a significant hazard in New Zealand. Not only does it affect people physically and mentally, but it can also disrupt workplaces and reduce productivity. Employers who don’t deal with it appropriately risk breaching legislation such as the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, the Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Human Rights Act 1993.
WorkSafe New Zealand recently released best practice guidelines on workplace bullying. Developed with the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, the guidelines have a focus on both employees and employers responding early before a situation gets out of hand. The guidelines include:
- An Am I being Bullied? checklist
- A flowchart of actions for dealing with being bullied
- A calculator tool for employers to assess the cost of bullying, and
- A workplace assessment tool that measures organisational culture with a view to prevent bullying.
- Advice for employees ranges from how to assess if you’re being bullied to recording instances of bullying behaviour to providing a range of low-key solutions. Advice for employers includes information on how to respond best to reports or allegations of bullying, and how to promote a healthy and respectful work environment.
To download the best practice guidelines, go to http://www.business.govt.nz/worksafe/tools-resources/bullying-prevention-tools
Some readers may have received emails purporting to be from the IRD. These fake IRD emails are becoming more sophisticated as the website appears genuine.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has provided some advice so you can protect yourself from these types of scams:
- Look after your personal details in the same way you would care for your wallet and other possessions. Your personal details are very valuable to scammers. They can use credit cards, claim benefits, take out loans and run up debts – all in your name.
- Never enter your personal details into a website unless you’re sure it’s genuine.
- Check website addresses carefully. If they’re similar to a genuine company’s URL, but not quite right, be careful. NEVER visit your bank’s website by clicking on a link – type in the entire website address yourself.
- Don’t reply to, click on any links or open any files in spam emails.
- Don’t call any numbers in spam emails.
- Regularly check your bank account statements and credit card bill to make sure no one is accessing your accounts.
- Order a credit report every year to make sure no one is using your name to borrow money or run up debts.
If you suspect you’ve given away your credit card details to a scammer:
- Call your bank immediately so your account can be suspended. Ask to speak to bank staff who specialise in security or fraud.
- Credit card companies can reverse a fraudulent transaction if you contact them soon enough
- Report the scam to Scamwatch, www.scamwatch.govt.nz
To read more about scams and what you can do, go to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs’ website: www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/scams
When relationships break down, numerous issues arise around the division of property. One spouse or partner may be left significantly worse off than the other, assets are often ‘protected’ by trust structures and it can be unclear what property makes up the ‘pool’ to be divided. Two recent cases provide insight into how the courts are approaching relationship property matters.
Economic disparity
The Property (Relationships) Act 1976 provides a presumption of equal sharing of relationship property at the end of a marriage or de facto relationship if it has lasted at least three years. It also allows the court, however, to adjust the division of relationship property in one party’s favour where the court is satisfied that the income and living standards of one party is likely to be significantly higher than the other party, because of the division of functions within the relationship. In August 2013, the Family Court made its most significant adjustment to date, awarding a Continue reading
Have you driven down the road and had your windscreen splattered with effluent as farmers irrigate their paddocks with nutrient-dense animal waste? Has your washing been hanging on the line all day and now has a pungent odour? Many farmers use a travelling irrigator or muck spreader on the farm, so what are your obligations to protect the general public from the effect of your permitted farming activity?
While most farmers Continue reading
When taking disciplinary action against any of your employees, you must follow the correct process or risk paying out large sums of money to aggrieved employees. The recent case of Stocker v Car Giant Limited[1] serves as a reminder of this.
Mr Stocker was an information technology manager at Car Giant, a car dealership in Petone. Car Giant called Mr Stocker to a meeting and told him he was dismissed, effective immediately. He was told he would receive no further payments from the company.
The Employment Relations Authority found that Mr Stocker had been unjustifiably dismissed without notice, and ordered Car Giant to pay him Continue reading
In December last year the Consumer Law Reform Bill passed into law. The legislation incorporates the most significant developments into New Zealand consumer law in more than 20 years. This article looks at how businesses will need to comply with the changes.
The new laws will strengthen consumers’ rights, simplify business compliance and ensure consumer protections are clear and accessible. The changes are also designed to achieve alignment with Australian consumer law by amending several consumer related acts, the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) and the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA). Other changes reflect advances in modern business practices and technology, such as internet and credit card transactions, online auctions, increased selling of extended warranties and sales campaigns conducted via social media, telephone and text.
How long to comply?
Most of the changes don’t come into effect until 18 June 2014 so your business will have time to change contracts and trading practices in order to comply with the legislative changes. The key changes which you will need to consider are summarised under three key dates. Continue reading