Insights & Articles

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.

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.

Vast changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, what landlords need to know of their rights and obligations to tenants. With the increasing number of New Zealanders renting, Parliament has seen it fit to make changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 ("the Act") to ensure renters are occupying warm, dry and liveable properties. The reformed Act looks to strike a balance between providing security and stability to tenants, while protecting landlord interest. It is important that landlords have an understanding of the new obligations and responsibilities the amended legislation imposes upon them, along with the penalties they may incur if not followed.

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.

The High Court has found that the Government's announcement of an Alert Level 4 'Lockdown' for four weeks from 26 March 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic was unlawful and potentially unenforceable for the first nine days (Borrowdale v Director-General of Health [2020] NZHC 2090). The Court also reviewed the closure of all non-essential businesses, which is significant for business owners hoping to file civil liability claims for lost revenue during this period.

The Employment Court decision has significant implications for employers in respect of target-based incentive payments, and holiday pay entitlements over annual closedown periods. The Labour Inspectorate and Metropolitan Glass jointly filed proceedings in the Employment Court as they were unable to agree on holiday pay calculations (Metropolitan Glass and Glazing Limited v Labour Inspector, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment [2020] NZEmpC 39).

If you or someone you know has signed a Prenuptial Agreement, Premarital Agreement, Antenuptial Contract or Contracting Out Agreement in a country outside of New Zealand, then you/ they should find out if and how that Agreement applies in New Zealand. Irrespective of where these types of documents are signed, they generally have a similar purpose; that being to determine the status, ownership and value of assets at the start and end of a couple's relationship. But, are they valid when you have moved away from the country of signing?

On 27 June 2020 the Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Act 2019 ("the Act") came into force. The Act aims to provide protection to those in triangular employment relationships. Typically, a triangular relationship exists where a person is employed by a labour hire company/recruitment agency, and works under the control and direction of another entity (a controlling third party).

Assignment of contracts is a fairly common practice in the business world. In an assignment, the person assigning the contract - the "Assignor" - assigns the benefits of the contract the Assignor holds to a new person (the "Assignee") who takes the benefit of that contract "the Assignee". Some contracts may expressly prohibit assignment and some contracts provide that a contract may not be assigned without the consent of the other party. If a contract has no provision relating to assignment, then the general rule is that it may be assigned, with a few exceptions.

In a world that is placing an increasing reliance on technology and value in data, it is hardly surprising that New Zealand's outdated Privacy Act 1993 ("Act") is scheduled to be replaced on 1 December 2020 in its entirety by the Privacy Bill ("Bill") which is currently making its way through the final stages of Parliament.