Businesses often work with other businesses – through distribution arrangements, joint ventures, or collaborations. However, sometimes these initially legitimate discussions...
It can be tempting for employers to deal with difficult or poor performing employees via a restructuring / redundancy process instead of using the (sometimes) more challenging...
In June 2019, the Government introduced its Farm Debt Mediation Bill (No 2) replacing an earlier private members’ bill which was withdrawn last year. Based on NSW...
The Government wants your views on new health and safety regulations – for plant, structures and working at heights Does your business have employees working on...
Much has been written lately about earthquake-prone buildings and the huge costs facing building owners. In July the Government announced changes that will assist owners of lower...
Don’t backdate documents. If you read nothing more than the first sentence of this article, that’s the lesson for today. You can sometimes agree how to treat or record...
The High Court decision of Honey Bees Preschool Limited v 127 Hobson Street Limited[1] altered the New Zealand law on liquidated damages and penalty clauses. That decision...
A recent review of the Trustee Act is set to place an additional focus on the duties of trustees. For trusts on which Gallaway Cook Allan acts as an independent trust, our new...
It is not uncommon when dealing with Relationships, Estates, or Business matters that you come up against the question - Can I caveat the title to protect my...
The Domestic Violence – Victim’s Protection Act 2018 came into force on Monday 1 April 2019. The intent of the Act is to recognise the impact that domestic violence can...
In a further step toward its goal of a $20 per hour minimum wage by 2021, the government will increase the minimum wage to $17.70 per hour from 1 April this year. That is a fairly...
The High Court decision in the Mainzeal Construction case was released last week and has resulted in considerable media attention given the amount of money and personalities...
From 1 July 2019 all residential landlords must comply with the Residential Tenancies (Smoke Alarms and Insulation) Regulations 2016 (‘the Regulations’). The...
Blended families are certainly becoming more common as society broadens its boundaries when it comes to the nexus of “the nuclear family”. People are also...
Terms of Trade set out the essential terms and conditions on which parties do business. When businesses supply goods and services on the basis of informal arrangements, this leaves...
The consequences of breaching minimum employment standards go beyond simply having to repay the worker or workers involved. As well as financial penalties and interest employers...
Introduction The Employment Relations Amendment Bill (previously discussed here, here and here) passed into law on 11 December 2018 as the Employment Relations Amendment Act...
WorkSafe has released a toolkit to help workers and businesses / organisations (known as ‘PCBUs’ under the Health and Safety at Work Act) prevent and respond to sexual...
Many businesses benefit from protecting their brand name through registered trade marks. Two recent Court cases shed light on the finer points of protecting your brand under trade...
Earlier this year the Government established a Holidays Act Taskforce to review and make recommendations about the Holidays Act 2003 (the Act). The Taskforce released an issues...