INSIGHTS

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Our lawyers keep up with the latest trends and issues in New Zealand law and business, and regularly publish articles and reports on current topics.

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Health and Safety - WorkSafe decision

Written by Glenn Finnigan, PARTNER on November 16th, 2020.    

A recent WorkSafe New Zealand sentencing decision highlights the high cost of mismanaging health and safety when having work done.
 

Employment Law and the NZ General Election 2020

Written by Glenn Finnigan, PARTNER on October 8th, 2020.    

Workplace relations policy often becomes a political football around election time with parties towards the “left” of the political spectrum ordinarily promoting enhanced workers rights vs. the more “right” leaning parties being more concerned with business interests. With advance voting now having opened, we examine some of the parties’ plans for reforming the employment laws.
 

Health and Safety Update: New Regulations Bolster General Duties

Written by Glenn Finnigan, PARTNER on April 14th, 2016.    

Over the past 18 months, we have followed the development of a new health and safety regime for New Zealand.  The core duties under that new regime are contained in the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.  While the Act deals in broad duties, detailed requirements for certain key areas and industries are set out in the newly released regulations.  
 

Health and Safety at Work Act: Visual Summary

Written by Glenn Finnigan, PARTNER; Darryl King, PARTNER on April 12th, 2016.    

All workplaces in New Zealand need to comply with the new Health and Safety at Work Act.  Existing health and safety systems will need updating across low risk and high risk industries, ranging from small businesses to large corporates.  Directors and senior managers have non-delegable duties and personal liability. 
 

Health and Safety at Work Act: Landlords

Written by Glenn Finnigan, PARTNER; Darryl King, PARTNER on March 16th, 2016.    

The new Health and Safety at Work Act comes into force in April 2016. This legislation will add a number of new features to the health and safety landscape, which landlords will need to consider.  Under the current Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, commercial landlords owe health and safety duties where they own a building which is used as a workplace.  These duties apply whether the building is used for their own business or leased to another employer. 
 

Health and Safety Update: Franchisors

Written by Glenn Finnigan, PARTNER; Darryl King, PARTNER on December 1st, 2015.    

We recently published an update on the new Health and Safety at Work Act which comes into force in April 2016.  Under the new Act, business owners will have to take a more hands-on approach to health and safety. Franchisors are in the unique position of having two “layers” of health and safety duties to consider.
 

Health and Safety At Work Act 2015: November 2015 Update

Written by Glenn Finnigan, PARTNER; Darryl King, PARTNER on November 9th, 2015.    

In early 2015 we reviewed the draft bill overhauling New Zealand’s health and safety legislation and provided comments on the draft bill to our clients.  The select committee made several notable amendments to that draft bill. The amended bill was recently passed as the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.  The Act comes into force in April 2016.  We have set out the key parts of the final version, including our comments about the recent changes, in our update below.
 

Health and Safety Law Reform: March 2015

Written by Glenn Finnigan, PARTNER; Darryl King, PARTNER on March 9th, 2015.    

New Zealand’s Health and Safety legislation is undergoing a major overhaul in response to a renewed focus on the safety in the workplace. The review was spurred, in part, by the Pike River tragedy and the well-publicised record of the Forestry Industry. The changes will align New Zealand’s approach with Australia’s current law and provide some hefty disincentives to taking a lax approach to Health and Safety. We have briefly summarised the key changes for you below. Some of them are already in force, but the major changes are scheduled to become active in mid-late 2015.
 

Health and Safety Regime Changes

Written by Glenn Finnigan, PARTNER on March 10th, 2014.    

Following the recent publicity surrounding the Pike River tragedy and the Forestry Industry’s record, the Government has begun to implement its plan for a significant overhaul of the Health and Safety legislation.  In this article, we have highlighted a few of the key changes set out in the bill.
 
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