Legal Publications - Duncan Cotterill

Publications

We produce a range of articles, legal publications and resources on a wide range of legal subjects and hot topics critical to our clients needs. These include briefings on key legal issues, newsletters on practice areas and industry developments via the below headings.

A wrap for immigration in 2020

Over the last twenty years in particular, New Zealand’s population and working age labour force has been buffeted by a steady net gain in immigrant arrivals. In March 2020, with the closing of our borders, the tap that allows New Zealand’s steady flow of immigration was all but turned More »

What employment law reforms are in store for 2021?

With the Government’s announcement to extend paid sick leave, what other employment reforms are in the pipeline, and what should you be doing now to prepare? Between 2017 and 2020, the Government made a series of changes to workplace-related legislation. In the 2020 election campaign, Labour More »

Overview of the redundancy process

Redundancy can be defined as a situation where an employee loses their job because their position is no longer needed or required by the employer. As in all employment matters, the employer must act in good faith and follow a fair process during the redundancy process before making any decisions. More »

Importance of insurance in buying a home

Insurance is absolutely crucial, and when borrowing from lenders to complete a house purchase, it is compulsory. Lenders will not allow a loan drawdown without written confirmation that appropriate and sufficient insurance cover is in place. Usually there is replacement insurance relating to fire, More »

How many directors need to sign?

Signing documents that bind a company to obligations and potential liability is a key aspect of being a director of a company. It is part of the role when a director is guiding and running the company. While shareholders are required to ratify major transactions and key decisions, day to day, the More »

Sole Trader and Limited Liability Company – liability compared

A sole trader is a common ownership structure that can be used to operate a small business. The main operator of the business may be one person, supported by a family member such as a spouse. Operating a business may be risky if the right asset protection and insurance is not in place to support More »

Employment rights for ACC claims: both sides of the coin

In 2020, it would be hard to come across a New Zealand household who has not either had a member of the household claim ACC for an injury or at least known someone that has had to. Statistics New Zealand reports that in 2018 alone, there were just short of 240,000 work place injury claims across More »

Mandatory breach reporting and the case for tighter security

Cyber security breaches are now so prevalent, they almost seem an everyday occurrence. Those security breaches that place personal information in jeopardy tend to be particularly newsworthy, because the harm becomes particularly human (privacy is, after all, a human right). The new Privacy Act 2020 More »

Five things to do by the end of the year

End of year checklist for employers With the end of the year approaching, businesses are looking at wrapping up before the Christmas break. We have put together a checklist of things for employers to keep in mind. 1. Payment during closedown periods The recent employment court decision of Labour More »

Court of Appeal has its say on sentencing under the Fair Trading Act

The Court of Appeal has, for the first time, considered an appeal of a sentencing under the Fair Trading Act 1986 ( FTA ) in Commerce Commission v Steel & Tube Holdings Ltd [2020] NZCA 549. The original charges related to false and misleading statements about Steel & Tube’s steel mesh More »

A lesson for the class … but where is the principal?

Class action process considered by the Supreme Court as legislation remains out-of-sight The Supreme Court has used the appeal in Southern Response Earthquake Services Limited v Ross [2020] NZSC 126 to fill the void of legislation dealing with representative claims (commonly known as class actions More »

Client update – Government market study into competition of supermarkets

This morning the Government announced that the Commerce Commission ( Commission ) will be conducting a market study into the state of competition in relation to New Zealand’s supermarkets. The Government describes the aim of the study is to ensure that consumers are paying fair prices for More »

The countdown is on. Are you ready?

On 1 December 2020 the Privacy Act 2020 (the Act ) comes into force. For the first time in New Zealand, businesses and organisations who are found to be non-compliant with their obligations around collecting, storing, using and disclosing personal information risk committing an offence and a fine More »

The cannabis referendum: implications for workplace drug testing and policies

The outcome of the upcoming referendum on whether recreational cannabis use should be legalised will be interesting. This is a non-binding referendum, but the government has indicated that it will honour the results if re-elected. What does a yes vote mean for the workplace and how should employers More »

Video: Employment law - managing poor performance

Staff who are not performing within your organisation have a detrimental effect on the business, impacting on productivity and staff morale while taking up a significant amount of management time and effort. On the other hand, managing performance issues effectively and exiting underperforming More »

Privacy Act 2020 - Reporting tool and serious harm

As part of the build up to the Privacy Act 2020 coming in to force on 1 December, the Privacy Commissioner has launched an online tool to help assess whether a privacy breach is notifiable. One of the key elements of the Privacy Act 2020 is the need for organisations to notify the Commissioner and More »

Does COVID-19 change the way you restructure your business?

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on many businesses, some of which must now contemplate cost cutting measures in order to keep their business afloat. So, what do employers need to think about if they propose a restructure? Has COVID-19 changed the rules? The short answer is no. COVID-19 in itself is not More »

Health and safety update: doing business at Alert Levels 1 and 2

This article is an update on our March article dealing with the COVID-19 related requirements for businesses. A lot has changed in that time, but some of the basics remain. In this update we deal with the current COVID-19 requirements for businesses, those for employees, and the specific More »

Pathway to recovery from COVID-19: immigration policy updates

Offshore resident visa holders Changes have been made to enable New Zealand residents who are currently stuck offshore to maintain their residency while border restrictions remain. This means New Zealand residents who need to travel to New Zealand to activate their visa or those with visas whose More »

Supreme Court releases decision on breach of directors’ duties

The Supreme Court has issued a new decision, Madsen-Ries and Levin as Liquidators of Debut Homes Limited (in liquidation) v Cooper [2020] NZSC 100, reviewing the law relating to breaches of directors’ duties. The decision sets out important guidance for company directors and their advisors More »

Search form

Publications

Pages

Pages