I have a farm assistant who I have promoted.  Do I need to give them a new employment agreement?
When you promote somebody it is important that you give them a new job description so that everyone is clear about what the new position is and what they are required to do.
The law requires that an employment agreement has an outline of duties.  Most employers provide this by way of a job description.  It is therefore prudent to review the employment agreement when you promote someone so that the new duties can be reflected in the new agreement.  If there are to be no changes to the terms and conditions of employment we suggest you write to the employee with a copy of the new job description and then record this as a variation to the employment agreement.  Any other changes to terms and conditions (i.e. pay) can also be recorded in this way.
If you haven’t updated your employment agreements since March this year then there is probably information that is now required by law which is not in your agreement (e.g. break periods).
If you’re looking for an employment agreement tailored to your business we can provide you with a re-useable template designed specifically for your needs for $350 plus GST.

Call us on (07) 870 4901

Looking for staff?

As the dairy season in particular gets into full swing we have had many clients looking for additional staff to help over this busy period.  For many businesses short term temporary staff are the best solution.  
We have a number of people looking for work now...so give us a call to see how we can help.
 

If this is the first time you have received our No8HR newsletter, Welcome.  Our goal is to bring you up to date people management information and encourage you to use our expertise when you become either time or expertise short in this important area of your business.  Log onto www.no8hr.co.nz  to find out more about what we do and how we can help you.

No8HR payroll services are up and running for clients, taking the hassle out of managing your payroll. 
Working closely with you we set up your payroll on our systems, manage your payroll data and ensure that staff entitlements are accurately calculated.  All you have to do is pay your staff from the direct credit schedule we provide you with every pay period.  Monthly PAYE calculations are automatically provided for you to pay by the due date.
All payslips for your staff and calculation entitlements come to you via e-mail.
Contact us today to talk more about this service and how we can help you simplify your payroll for as little as $100 per month plus set up costs.
Phone 07 870 4901 for more details or log onto our website at www.No8HR.co.nz

The new trial periods legislation that came into force on 1 March 2009 allowed employers with less than 20 staff to dismiss an employee within the first 90 days of their employment without having to worry about a personal grievance claim for unjustified dismissal.
In the last few weeks we have had a number of employers seek advice around enacting a dismissal under the ‘Trial Period’ terms.  For some farmers the result was good, for others they have found themselves stuck with a potential problem because they didn’t meet the requirements of a legitimate Trial Period as outlined in the legislation.

Here’s some real-life examples to learn from (used with permission and identifying details changed):

Poor Work Performance
Gerry employed a shepherd in March.  He knew the guy had no experience but thought he’d be able to train him.   He got an employment agreement signed (which included the then new 90 day Trial Period) and he gave the guy a job description.
By May Gerry had had a number of discussions with the new shepherd about what was going wrong and had given him lots of training.  Gerry also knew that it was hard to recruit people in his area so he didn’t want to give up on the guy.
In June Gerry phoned us for help as things were not working out.  Unfortunately he was two days outside of the 90 day trial period and therefore needed to follow a full performance management process in order to address the performance issues.

Conduct – smoking in the workplace
Farm owner, John, employed a farm assistant who started on June 1.  Within two days of him starting he had twice caught the new employee smoking in the staff room attached to the dairy.
John wanted to rely on the 90-day Trial Period clause within the employment agreement for a quick dismissal.  Unfortunately John had not got the new farm assistant to sign the employment agreement prior to his start date so couldn’t rely on these provisions.
However, this story does have a positive ending for the John as No8HR consultants were able to assist him through a fair dismissal process without relying on the Trial Period clause.

Poor Work Performance and Conduct
Darren (Sharemilker) employed a new farm assistant and his wife.  Things went well although there were rumours from other staff that they didn’t like the ‘new guy’. 
In order to investigate this further Darren decided to work with the two new employees and found that they didn’t have all the skills to do the job they had been employed for.   Darren spoke to them and they became aggressive to him and spoke badly of their work colleagues.  It got to the point where Darren called on the farm owner in order to calm the situation down.  Darren felt that the relationship had been irreparably damaged.
Darren had got both of the employee’s to sign employment agreements, which included provision for a Trial Period of 90 days, prior to their employment.  He had also signed the agreement prior to them starting.   Darren was able to rely on the provisions of the 90 day trial to terminate the employment of both new employees.
The Trial Period legislation was introduced to help small businesses manage people issues more easily.  It certainly has the capacity to do this if implemented properly, however the legislation is very specific around timeframes and not forgiving if any of the provisions within it are not complied with. 

The key things you need to know about Trial Periods are:

• ^{_{The Employer and Employee must agree to the Trial Period and it must be written into the employment agreement.
• Employers must consider and respond to any issues raised by the new employee concerning the Trial Period both leading up to the employment and once it has started.
• Both the Employer and the Employee must sign the Employment agreement at the beginning of the employment period.
• The Trial Period can be for no more than 90 calendar days.
• If the employment is to be terminated, notice must be given within the Trial Period.
• The Trail Period prevents an employee taking a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal.  It does not stop an employee taking a personal grievance for any other reason (e.g. discrimination}}).

Employers also need to be wary of relying on the trial period legislation to shortcut their recruitment process.  It doesn’t matter how long an unsuitable employee is in your business, there is a cost to the employer in terms of both time, effort and money (trial period dismissals are dismissals with notice which is almost invariably paid out).