Bay Harbour: December 21, 2016

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PAGE 18 BAY HARBOUR Wednesday December 21 2016 Annual Christmas Closedown and the Holidays Act ADVERTORIAL We, in New Zealand are doomed to failure when it comes to celebrating Christmas the traditional Northern Hemisphere way. For one thing, it’s warm (well it’s meant to be) so there is pretty much zero chance of building Frosty on your front lawn. Our Christmas trees have traditionally been fakes from China or branches cut from a pine tree, which we try desperately to keep alive until the 25th. And, the 22nd of December is the longest day of the year, making traditional Christmas lights a late night activity after the kids are in bed. Last Christmas we had American friends to visit for their first Kiwi Christmas. Although excited about showing them some of our Kiwi Christmas traditions, it was only during that Christmas that I realised how many of their traditions we actually can’t adopt, despite our best efforts. But there is one aspect of our Southern Hemisphere Christmas our American friends found somewhat appealing - the combination of summer and Christmas making our main holiday period fall over the Christmas / New Years period. Unlike Americans who are generally only entitled to two public holidays at this time, Christmas Day and January 1, by law we are entitled to four statutory leave days – Christmas Day, Boxing Day, January 1 and January 2. Although many hospitality and retail businesses are ramping up in December, a large number of other businesses are winding down for the holiday period and so schedule their “closedown” period for the entire Christmas and New Year period. The Holidays Act 2003 (the “Act”) governs the law concerning closedown periods. A closedown period is defined in the Act as a single period where an employer customarily closes its operations of one or more employees and requires those employees to take all or some of their annual leave. Although an employer is only entitled to have one closedown period per year, it may have different closedown periods for different parts of its business. There are a number of statutory rules which apply to a closedown. My fictional client, Bob, works for Scrooge Enterprises. On Friday 9th of December, his manager, Ebenezer, gave him email notice of Scrooge Enterprises’ closedown period from noon on Thursday 22 December until Wednesday 4th of January 2017. This notice breached the requirements of the Act and was therefore not legal, as a full 14 days notice was not provided to Bob. An employer must give its employees at least 14 days notice of the requirement for Bob to take annual leave during the closedown period. Bob had worked for Scrooge Enterprises since August 2015 and therefore he had an entitlement to annual leave as he had worked there more than 12 months. As at the date of closedown (22 December) Bob had 3 days of annual leave owing. However, the closedown period included more than 3 days which were not statutory holidays. The Act provides that Bob must use his annual leave entitlement during this period. For any remaining days, Scrooge Enterprises may choose to, in agreement with Bob, pay him the balance of days as annual leave in advance. However not surprisingly, Scrooge Enterprises does not want to pay any of Bob’s leave in advance and is not required to do so under the Act. Bob’s colleague, Tim, began work at Scrooge Enterprises in February of this year. Under the Act Tim is not yet entitled to take annual leave as he has not been in the job for 12 months. Scrooge Enterprises also does not want to pay Tim the holidays in advance. However, under the Act, Scrooge Enterprises must pay Tim 8% of his gross earnings since February (less any holiday pay taken in advance and less any holiday pay paid in conjunction with normal pay). Tim’s annual leave will then begin accruing again from the start of the closedown.. Ebenezer decides to throw a Christmas party at the Scrooge Enterprises offices on the afternoon of Wednesday 21 December. All staff are invited but Ebenezer claims that it is part of the Christmas closedown period and therefore annual leave will be deducted for the afternoon, whether employees attend or not. The Act provides that a closedown period must be one single period. Therefore Scrooge Enterprises cannot deduct annual leave from staff for the Christmas party closedown. If the Christmas party was changed to the afternoon of Thursday 22 December (the beginning of the Closedown period), then annual leave may be deducted and paid to employees, as the closedown is one single period from noon 22 December to January 2. A business is entitled to have closedown periods for different parts of its operations. Although the Christmas period is an obvious time for a closedown, there may be other reasons a business needs to closedown at a different time of year. For example, a business may close just its manufacturing side in July every year for one week for scheduled maintenance and servicing. This is legal as long as this side of the business is not then closed down at Christmas as well. Christmas time is New Zealand’s annual holiday period and employers must ensure that they comply with the relevant provisions of the Holidays Act if they choose to close all or part of their business over the holiday break. This Christmas, whether you are working or not working, closing down your business or not closing down, the staff at Layburn Hodgins wish you a very happy and safe Kiwi Christmas. Written by Prue Miller of Layburn Hodgins Our Goal: To make it easier for you to achieve yours! Do you live in the Lyttelton Harbour Bays? Prue is so passionate about the community that for every completed house and land sale or purchase on behalf of a Bay resident before the end of 2016, Layburn Hodgins will donate $100 to either the Jetty Restoration or one of the three primary schools in the Bay – client’s choice!! We aim to help the community achieve goals too! We can even visit you at your home if you don’t travel to Christchurch regularly. Meet Prue Miller Governors Bay local, parent at Governors Bay School and experienced property and commercial lawyer. Prue’s specialist areas include conveyancing, trusts, wills, contracts including building agreements, contractors agreements, terms of trade, supply agreements and consumer contracts. Please call Prue Miller - your local lawyer for all your legal needs. Phone: 03 366 2332 | Email: layburn@layburn.co.nz Visit: Level 1, 205 Durham Street South, Christchurch www.layburn.co.nz
Wednesday December 21 2016 BAY HARBOUR PAGE 19 Thompson bowls Sumner to second title in a row SPORTS • By Fraser Walker-Pearce AN OUTSTANDING bowling display from Marcus Thompson has secured Sumner back-to-back one-day championships. Thompson took five wickets for 14 runs in his nine overs against Lancaster Park Addington in Sunday’s Printable Senior A competition final. Teammate Dan Vann said Thompson’s spell of medium pace turned the tide in Sumner’s favour. Thompson said he was happy to contribute to the success of the team. “It was good to be able to contribute to the team in the final . . . we weren’t as dominant this year as we were last, but in the semi and final matches we got the results we were after,” Thompson said. Addington won the toss and batted first. But strong bowling from Thompson and spinner Jonny Percasky saw Addington all out for 92. In response, Sumner chased down the total in 15 overs for the loss of one wicket. Percasky pitched in with two wickets for 16 runs off nine overs. Sumner went unbeaten in the competition last year, but this year lost two pool matches, CHAMPIONS: Sumner won the Printable Senior A competition after a comprehensive nine wicket victory over Addington. making the road to the final tougher. In response, Sumner opener Chris Wilson finished the innings off with an unbeaten 53 from 52 balls, including 11 fours. “At the end of the day, it was pretty one-sided; we deserved to be there. But then again, in pool play we only beat them by a couple of runs,” Thompson said. He said Wilson had been in “great form” for Sumner at the top of the order, scoring between 40 to 50 runs every match. The title-winning match backed up a strong bowling performance from Thompson and Percasky in Sumner’s semi-final win over Merivale-Papanui on December 10. Sumner were bowled out for 148 off 42 overs. In response, Merivale’s opening partnership saw the side through to 68/0 before Thompson’s medium pace and Percasky’s left arm spin were introduced. Thompson took four wickets for 18 runs off nine overs. Lyttelton Primary School pupils represented the south-east zone at the recent Canterbury primary schools’ athletics championships in Ashburton. Pupil Max Townley (above) competed in the high jump while Ruby Aitken, Joely Townley, Venetia Larraman and Lisa-Quan Webb (below) came third overall in the relay. Isaac Warren, Ronan Bigelow, Connor Buckley, Mathieu Reid and Isaac Warnock all gained a spot in the regional competition after placing in the competition. Nehad, Anita, Ashleigh, Kellie and Grant Full Service Pharmacy including... • Passports Photos • Revlon Cosmetics and Revlon Club • Gifts and Gift Wrapping • Ear Piercing • Extensive Natural Health range • Scarves, Hats and Sunglasses • Focus on Natural Organic Skincare including Trilogy, Antipodes and Sukin OPEN SAT & SUN Dispensary Service • Medico Packs • Quit Smoking Quitcards • Emergency Contraceptive Pill • Delivery Service Owned and operated by your phamacist, Grant Bell CAFÉ NOW OPEN 1005 Ferry Rd, Ferrymead. Ph:943 9635 OPEN 7 DAYS: Mon to Fri 8.30am - 6pm Sat 9am - 4pm and Sun 10am - 4pm
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Bay Harbour: December 21, 2016

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