November 2018 Update

November 2018 update

Business continuity

The 6.2 earthquake that rocked a large part of NZ last week is another timely reminder that we all need to be prepared and our disaster recovery and business continuity plans should be reviewed regularly.

If you had a change of staff in the last 12 months, have you updated the emergency contact details? How long is it since you changed your stored water, or checked the expiry dates on your food supplies?

Encourage your staff to have a family plan, and the Civil Defence website has plenty of good information to help families plan where they will meet, who will collect children from school or day care, and what they should include in their emergency supplies.

Domestic Violence - Victim Protection Act

The Domestic Violence – Victim Protection Act will come into effect on 1 April 2019. The purpose of the Act is to provide people affected by domestic violence a minimum entitlement to paid leave to assist with dealing with the effects.

The legislation will allow employees affected by domestic violence 

• an additional 10 days leave per entitlement year (after the initial 6-month criteria)
• to request short term variation to their working arrangements for not longer than 2 months. Requests must be dealt with in the same way as any request under the Flexible Working arrangements

Domestic violence leave can be requested if the employee has been affected by domestic violence, regardless of how long ago the violence occurred, even if it is prior to the current employment.