People Management – Employment Agreements
Table of Contents
by Racquel Cleaver – AgriPeople
- Form and content of Employment Agreements
- Automatically Implied Terms
- Casual Employment Agreements
- Fixed-Term Employment Agreements
- Wage and Time Records
- Loan Employee Considerations
- Conflict Management
- Must be in writing
- May contain such terms and conditions as the employee and employer think fit
- Must contain:
- names of the parties
- description of the work to be performed
- indication of where the work is to be carried out
- an indication of the arrangements relating to the times the employee is to work
- wages or salary payable to the employee
- plain language dispute resolution clause
- Employee protection clause
- Intended agreements – no signed agreement but demonstrated acceptance
- Deductions – written consent of the employee (Wage Protection)
- Terms that will be contained in the Agreement in addition to the mandatory terms required by the ERA:
- terms expressly or impliedly agreed by conduct between the parties i.e. disciplinary process
- terms incorporated by reference i.e. house rules or policies, terms in a job offer
- terms implied by statutes other than the ERA (e.g. rights to leave under the Holidays Act 2003, the right not to be paid less than the minimum wage
- Duties of Employer
- to pay wages
- to provide a safe workplace
- to indemnify the employee
- Duties of the Employees
- to be present for work
- personal service
- to obey reasonable and lawful instruction
- Good Faith – Responsive and Communicative
- an obligation of trust and confidence (owed by both)
- obligation of confidentially (owed by employee)
- obligation of fidelity (owed by the employee)
- Genuinely casual – irregular hours
- No requirement to accept every offer of work made
- Casual agreement to make clear:
- there is no guarantee of work on a specific day
- the amount of work they’ll get will fluctuate
- how you’ll let them know when you would like them to work
- they’re not obliged to make themselves available for work if asked
- don’t get them confused with part-time workers
- Time off:
- casual employees are entitled to holidays – “pay as you go”
- entitled to sick leave and bereavement leave after six months of starting work – conditional
- Agreement to contain:
- explanation of Fixed Term nature
- term and end date – i.e. project completion
- specify the way it will end and reasons why
- To be considered:
- can’t be used as a trial or “try-out” period
- if you offer permanent work no 90-day trial available
- disciplinary process in line with other employees
- finish agreement in agreed time frame
- extensions in writing
- risks of rolling over
- fixed term for less than a year – 8%
- Example of Fixed-Term – right vs wrong
Employment Relations Act 2000 requires employers to keep a wages and time record
- Employee’s name and age, if under 20 years
- Employee’s postal address
- The kind of work in which the employee is usually employed
- Type of agreement
- The hours and days of employment in each pay period where irregular
- Wages paid to the employee each pay period and the method of calculation – protection around minimum wage.
- Access to records going back six years, and IRD for at least seven years
- Holidays and leave record required by the Holidays Act 2003
- Time sheets and payroll systems
- Existing – consultation in change of agreement
- New – Employment Agreement to specify work locations
- Employer holding agreement ultimately responsible for employees
- Health and Safety Act – loaned employee treated as if an employee while working on site for person (B) but Employer still has some responsibility
- Employment relations issues to be dealt with by the Employer – holds overall responsibility for the relationship
- Joint Venture Company – hiring out of a temporary labour
- Two Employers – Two Agreements (Secondary Employment)
“Your story is as legitimate to you as mine is to me”
- Managed conflict positive – opportunity for change
- What do we bring – perceptions, values, emotions, disorders
- Separate the people from the problem
- Seek objective criteria
- Create objectives
- Exploring underlying interests and using dangerous questions