Three Employment Law Reminders

One
From 1 July 2011 all employers will be required to keep a signed copy of each employee's employment agreement or, where the employee hasn’t yet signed, a copy of the intended agreement.

There are penalties for non-compliance, but before the Department of Labour act, they will need to provide employers with seven working days to arrange an employment agreement.

Two
As of 1 April 2011, all employers can make an offer of employment to a prospective employee that includes a trial period of up to 90 days.

Trial periods can be a useful tool as they provide employment opportunities to people without financial risk to the employer, in the event the employment relationship does not work out.

There are, however a number of important criteria that need to be met in order for a trial period to be lawful. These are set out in the following articles: