Articles

Beware when commercial discussions lead to trouble

Businesses often work with other businesses – through distribution arrangements, joint ventures, or collaborations. However, sometimes these initially legitimate discussions...

Dealing with employment issues via redundancy can have expensive consequences

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...

Farm Debt Mediation Bill (No 2)

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the Government introduced its Farm Debt Mediation Bill (No 2) replacing an earlier private members’ bill which was withdrawn last year.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...

Health & Safety Review Important

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...

Relief for Owners of Earthquake-Prone Buildings

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...

The Perils of Backdating Legal Documents

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...

Court of Appeal Releases Stinging Judgment

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...

Annual Administration Process

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...

Caveatable Interests - What's Allowed and What's Not

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...

Domestic Violence - Victim's Protection Act comes into force 1 April

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...

Minimum Wage Increasing to $17.70 from 1 April, further increases signalled

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...

Lessons From Mainzeal Construction Case: Director Duties & Working Capital

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...

Compulsory Insulation in Rental Properties from July 2019 - What are Your Obligations as a Landlord?

From 1 July 2019 all residential landlords must comply with the Residential Tenancies (Smoke Alarms and Insulation) Regulations 2016 (‘the Regulations’).  The...

Proper Maintenance and Support

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

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...

Minimum wage breach leads to 12 month ban on hiring migrant workers

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...

Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018 - Update

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...

New WorkSafe Toolkit: Preventing and Responding to Sexual Harassment at Work

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...

An Update on Protecting Your Brand

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...

Holidays Act Issues Paper

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...

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