Holidays

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Tis the season…

November 14, 2009 in Holidays

treeHere is an excellent contribution from my colleague Maria Berryman – with relevance in advance of the holiday season.

 

Before the Christmas Cocktails take their toll on one’s clarity over the ensuing weeks, I thought I would attempt to provide some clarity on the requirements arising from that very clear piece of legislation known as our Holidays Act.  This post focuses on just those four magic days that are treated differently to all other public holidays during the year being, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and January 2nd. 

 

These days are treated differently because unlike the rest of the year’s public holidays, these days will be transferred to Mondays and Tuesdays (Mondayized link to Google def?) if they fall on the weekend.  The aim of the Holidays Act in relation to these holidays is to ensure that employees (who are not truly casual employees, or called in only because it is a public holiday) enjoy four paid public holidays over the Christmas New Year period.

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What is “work” anyway?

August 18, 2009 in Courts and tribunals, Holidays

bikeThe Employment Court recently issued an important issue around the way in which “sleepover” workers should be treated for the purpose of minimum wage legislation. 

Interestingly, a similar issue has recently been raised in the United States around waged workers’ rights to claim additional income for time spent responding to work calls or emails outside of normal working hours. 

An article in the Wall Street Journal reports on employees at two different organisations who have brought similar claims against their employers – asking the fundamental question “what is work”?.  This is the same question that the Employment Court was caused to consider in its recent decision (although in slightly different circumstances). 

This is a developing area of law, and one which is worth watching closely. 

The nine day fortnight : is it working?

June 23, 2009 in Holidays, The economy

images61The nine day fortnight was greeted by most employees with a mixture of suspicion and relief.   

On one hand, the concept (which is referred to in some other countries as a “furlough”) is pitched as an alternative to redundancy:  work less hours (and get less pay), but keep your job. 

On the other hand,a recent article from the New York Times suggests that many employees who have agreed to take a nine day fortnight actually find themselves working on their day off more often than not. 

The end product is a situation in which the employer ends up paying 10% less salary for a 100% work - and, apparently, dissatisfied workers.   

One wonders if New Zealand workers are sharing a similar experience.

No holidays please, we’re working

May 21, 2009 in Holidays

beachCould it be a sign of things to come – for workers and employment lawyers alike?  Up to a third of employees in America are planning to forego their annual holidays this year, according to a survey this week.

The majority say that it is because vacations are a luxury they can no longer avoid in an ailing economy.  For some, perhaps, the prospect of staying at work – and squirreling  away precious leave for later – has its own attractions.

But what of work/life balance?  Wasn’t it just last year that we were being lectured about the merits – and indeed necessity – of time away from work?  Perhaps the economic crisis has put paid to that for now.

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