Insights & Articles

A recent Court of Appeal decision (Autumn Tree(1)) makes it clear that where a company enters a contract and only one director signs it:

Employers and employees alike have long been grappling with the Holidays Act 2003 ("Act") due to its complexity. Difficulties with compliance has resulted in employees receiving incorrect payments, being unaware of their statutory entitlements and employers owing significant amounts of historical underpayments. It is no surprise the Labour Government's announcement to review the Act was welcomed by many.

2020 has been a year of upheaval for employers. Now many employers are looking for different ways to employ staff where their requirements have changed.

Recently there have been a number of announcements by large employers overseas making the Covid-19 vaccine mandatory for customers and or employees. However, in New Zealand the Ministry of Health has confirmed that it will not be making the Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for New Zealanders. Given the current climate, employers in New Zealand are considering their options, including whether to make the vaccination mandatory in the workplace or even if they can encourage their employees to have the vaccine.

On 30 October 2020 the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment in the context of contracts of guarantee in the case of Brougham v Regan [2020] NZSC 118. A summary of the key facts of the matter and important points in the Court's decision follow.

Often in commercial contracts, parties agree that they will use their "best endeavours", their "reasonable endeavours" or their "all reasonable endeavours" to perform certain actions or to achieve a certain outcome. But what do these terms mean in reality? While there are no set definitions and much is dependent on the particular circumstances, we are able to make some practical comments about the requirements of each of these terms so you have a clear idea of what you are agreeing to.

When you are selling a property it is common to list the 'Chattels' which you are to be selling with the building. Chattels are items which are able to be removed from a property without too much effort, and which were never intended to permanently form part of the structure. Common examples are an oven, paintings or a fridge. Occasionally they can be large eg a spa pool or garden shed. If it can fit on a truck, it may well be a chattel.