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The Department of Labour has recently launched "the Big Six" - a series of publications on
the six main areas of employment that employers ask about which are: health and safety,
recruitment, pay, holidays and leave, performance management, and ending employment relationships.
This information is available free from the Department's website here: www.dol.govt.nz/big6.
Please make the time to add this address to your 'favourites' list in your internet explorer.
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Last year I advised that the Department of Labour intended to develop a code of practice for
employers on section 69Y of the Employment Relations Act which refers to infant feeding in the
workplace. The Department has now launched a code of practice that provides guidance on
applying this section of the Act. It should be noted that while the code is voluntary, in
the event a dispute arises the Employment Court may consider the employer's actions in light
of the code which is considered to be "best practice". The code is available here.
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The Presbyterian Church's insurance broker, AON, developed PACT (Presbyterian-AON Compliance Tool)
as a way of assisting parishes to centrally monitor their compliance with a range of legislation.
If you have not already checked out this valuable tool please go to www.presbyterian.aon.co.nz.
Contact Juliette for password information. Further information
on the legislation listed is also available in hardcopy - please email me for a copy at
juliette@presbyterian.org.nz.
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Susan Jones is leading a group of trainers who will be running workshops around
the country on the new system of parish reviews. Presbyteries have already been
contacted so please watch your presbytery newsletters for details of training events
in your area.
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From April 2009 it became mandatory to provide employees with a specific number of paid and
unpaid meal breaks depending on the number of hours they work in a day (refer the Employment
Relations (Breaks, Infant Feeding, and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2008). Although the
provisions followed the custom and practice of the majority of New Zealand workplaces to
provide two 10-minute breaks and one half-hour lunch break, some employers found these new
requirements impractical in their specific workplaces or industries.
In response to this the Government has reviewed the guidelines with a view to making them
more practical. At the end of April the proposed amendment passed its first reading and
was referred to the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee for consideration.
The main thrust of the amendment is to give employers the ability to negotiate with their
employees on alternatives to the mandatory breaks (such as a shorter working day or time
in lieu). The amendment still upholds the belief that employees should have adequate
opportunity to rest during the working day. In the event that the amendment goes through
I will provide information on this, including the date from which it becomes effective, in
a later Presbyterian People.
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Parishes are reminded that the Presbyterian Church has an arrangement with Thinking Safer
to provide free health and safety training to parishes until the end of June 2011.
If you have not done so already, please email Kim at Thinking Safer today to enroll
someone from your parish on the course. Kim's address is kimt@thinkingsafer.com.
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