Waikato Business News March/April 2021

More documents

Recommendations

Info

36 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS March/April 2021 REMARKABLE WOMEN Wāhine Māia, Wāhine Toa Leaders in Law Every decision Waikato-based law firm McCaw Lewis makes is driven by three core values: Manaakitanga, Kotahitanga and Whāia te iti Kahurangi. L-R McCaw Lewis Senior Associates Jessica Middleton and Kylee Katipo, Executive Director Renika Siciliano, and Directors Amanda Hockley and Laura Monahan. It is through this lens that the firm has fostered a talented, passionate and driven group of female leaders. Renika Siciliano, of Waikato-Maniapoto descent, took on the role of Executive Director in 2020 and over the past year four other women have been promoted into leadership positions. Laura Monahan and Amanda Hockley stepped up into Directorship, while Kylee Katipo and Jessica Middleton were appointed as Senior Associates. Nurturing legal talent and leadership is one of Renika’s top priorities. “McCaw Lewis’ biggest strength is its people. We have an incredible team of legal minds and support staff who deserve to work in an environment where their talents can flourish and shine” she said. The importance of whānau and kotahitanga at McCaw Lewis means the leadership team regularly review how the firm is performing from an equality standpoint, and any implications for unconscious bias are challenged. McCaw Lewis’ whānau-first approach has enabled all staff to seek and establish a healthy balance between mahi and family. This has been especially important for Renika, Laura and Amanda, all of whom have young tamariki. As the mum of two young sons, and leader of the firm’s asset planning practise, Amanda says “It’s hugely rewarding setting an example for my boys of what can be achieved through dedication to something worth fighting for.” Laura, who co-leads McCaw Lewis’ commercial practise, is passionate about helping her clients with their business goals. “Clients need me to understand the issue or opportunity and provide advice or act for them in a way which will support positive outcomes – essentially it’s seeing problems and opportunities and getting it done” said Laura about her approach to work. Kylee Katipo (Waikato) works in the areas of Māori land law and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Her appointment to Senior Associate recognised the growing role she has as a leader in her team and the wider firm. Kylee is currently playing an active role in the Mana Wāhine Inquiry and recently wrote an article discussing how wāhine Māori, through the Inquiry, are reshaping and solidifying the narrative with respect to wāhine Māori, through both a historic and contemporary lens. The recent promotion of Jessica Middleton to Senior Associate reflects her talent as a lawyer, commitment to her clients, and the important role she plays in the firm’s commercial practise and wider McCaw Lewis whānau. “I’m excited to have an opportunity to further develop those skills, to bring out the best in myself and the people I work with” said Jessica. To mark International Women’s day, the firm invited wāhine to be supported through a tuakana-teina relationship aimed at continuing to foster the growth and development of their up and coming wāhine. The firm plans to offer the programme more widely in the future. “The theme for International Women’s Day 2021 was ‘Choose To Challenge’. As lawyers, we challenge the law, our colleagues and ourselves – and we challenge inequality and gender bias. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements” said Renika. Founded in 1919, McCaw Lewis has grown to become one of Waikato’s leading law firms, with a team of about 40 staff specialising in commercial, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, property, dispute resolution, asset planning, environmental/natural resources, workplace law and Māori land. Level 6/586 Victoria Street, Hamilton Central, Hamilton 3204 | 07 838 2079 | www.mccawlewis.co.nz Profiling Asset Recruitment For more than 30 years, the Asset Recruitment team has been aligning great candidates with great opportunities, and ‘positioning excellence’ throughout Waikato. Manager and Temporary Recruitment Consultant Carmel Strange has been with Asset for almost 30 of those years. “I began my time with Asset as the frontline administrator and very quickly realised I’d fallen into an industry that I love,” says Carmel. “I have always been a person who strives to achieve, and I do not shy away from challenging when I believe there’s a better way to do something.” Carmel says this is encouraged throughout the sixstrong team of remarkable women that is Asset Recruitment. Executive Recruitment Consultant, Judy Davison has been with the company for more than 24 years. Judy says she believes a big part of Asset’s success is based on building relationships and being extremely particular about finding the right fit for both job-seeker and employer. “Our mantra is to “position excellence” which means as much as it’s about matching the best candidate to the role we’re tasked with recruiting, it’s also about identifying the candidate who is most likely to stay with the company and share their vision.” Asset’s temporary industrial recruitment is run by Pearl Parsons, who sources hard-working staff to fill a range of roles. “Both my area of the business, and Carmel’s area are very fast-paced as we place candidates into temporary roles, often required with not much notice,” says Pearl. “What I’ve found working with the team for just over two years, is that it’s a very supportive environment. Everyone jumps in and helps when needed, plus we have the most amazing admin team that holds it all together.” Frontline Administrator, Aysha Townsend and Recruitment Coordinator, Shaye Tudor have been an integral part of the Asset team for a collective 15 years. When discussing the current recruitment market, Permanent Recruitment Consultant, Judith Bright says, “It’s challenging at the moment, we’re finding that top talent is hesitant to make a move. Employers are realising and recognising how important it is to foster a positive work environment, look after their teams, and retain their exceptional employees.” “I think there’s also a feeling of company loyalty from employees following the hardships from the global pandemic. Then add to the mix employees may be favouring job security at the moment rather than looking for a new Carmel, Judy, Pearl, Judith, Shaye, Aysha I began my time with Asset as the front-line administrator and very quickly realised I’d fallen into an industry that I love opportunity.” Judith says, from a recruitment perspective it may take a little longer to successfully fill a role compared to the pre-COVID market. “This also means companies looking to hire need to ensure their offering is on-point if they want to convince top talent to make a move to their business.” Reflecting on the past 12 months, Carmel says, “It hasn’t been an easy ride for any business.” “I believe what’s helped Asset through is the relationships we have with our clients and candidates. Some of these relationships span many years and we are very grateful for their continued support.” She also comments on the support of the Asset team, “We have all worked together, been flexible when adapting to the recent challenges of the market, and been supportive of each other. I am extremely proud of our team and feel truly fortunate to be surrounded by such remarkable women.” | Phone: 07 839 3685 | www.assetrec.co.nz | Level 10, KPMG Centre85 Alexandra Street, 205171AC
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS March/April 2021 37 When an employee’s resignation becomes a dismissal Receiving a long-awaited resignation from a troublesome employee may, at first blush, look like an employer’s dream come true. But all too quickly the dream can become a nightmare when that same employee subsequently raises a personal grievance (PG) for constructive dismissal. A bewildered employer could be forgiven for thinking, “Surely this is not a dismissal, it was the employee who resigned and I have the resignation letter to prove it!” However, constructive dismissal claims should not be confused with unjustified dismissal claims, the latter being where the employer did dismiss the employee, but the employee claims that the dismissal was unfair. A constructive dismissal, simply defined, is where an employee resigns but claims the conduct of the employer left them no other option. There are three main categories of constructive dismissal. The first is the most obvious, where an employee is told to resign, or they will be facing dismissal. This might happen when the employee is facing disciplinary action and the employer decides to save everyone all a bit of time and stress by just asking the employee to resign, to avoid an inevitable dismissal. The second is where the employee claims the employer embarked on a course of conduct with the deliberate and dominant purpose of coercing an employee to resign, such as setting unachievable goals and/or unacceptable work conditions, or claiming there are issues with the employee’s performance that are not true. The third category is where the employer has breached the employer’s duties. The duty might be one or more of the expressed duties set out in the individual employment agreement (IEA) or an implied duty, such as acting in good faith or acting in a fair and reasonable manner. A constructive dismissal grievance (like the majority of PGs) must be raised within 90 calendar days of the employment terminating, although the period for claiming underpayments such as wage arrears and Minimum Wage and Holiday Act payments, are claimable for six years following the act or omission coming to the employee’s attention. The onus for proving on the balance of probability (meaning what’s more likely than not) that the employee was constructively dismissed falls firmly on the employee, and the threshold for demonstrating that the employee was left with no other option but to resign is high. For that reason, it is one of the more difficult PGs for an employee to successfully pursue. But let’s face it, if you can avoid a PG, even one with slim prospects of success, why wouldn’t you? Employment law is very much a case of an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure. So here are some tips as to what an employer can do to try and avoid constructive dismissal claims. • Never offer an employee the option between resignation or dismissal, not even if you think it is “off the record” or “without prejudice” as it is likely it will be neither, and this proposal can then be used as evidence in litigation. There is also the danger that by making such a proposal you are showing predetermination of a disciplinary outcome, before the disciplinary process has been completed. That is another big no-no; EMPLOYMENT LAW > BY ERIN BURKE Employment lawyer and director at Practica Legal Email: erin@practicalegal.co.nz phone: 027 459 3375 • Be rigorous with your documentation. If an employee is underperforming, inform them of this in writing, at the time the issues arise, and let them know you have concerns. If the performance does not improve then the employer needs to propose a formal performance improvement plan (PIP) so the concerns are very clearly spelled out and documented, and the improvement the employer needs to see is also clearly conveyed, along with allowing a reasonable period of time for the employee to improve; • Ensure that prior to taking any actions such as changing an employee’s duties, hours or pay, that you have thoroughly checked the IEA and that you can in fact lawfully do what you are doing. IEAs are not something that the parties sign and then just gets thrown in the bottom drawer, never to be seen again. IEAs are basically workplace wedding vows between an employer and an employee, containing the agreed rules of how the relationship will work. The IEA should be checked every time there is some unfavourable or significant action that an employer is proposing to embark on. If the IEA allows changes to hours and duties, for example, it will usually state that, but will also often prescribe the process such as ‘by mutual agreement in writing’ or ‘following consultation with the employee’. If you fail to do that, then you have breached the IEA, which could give rise to the third category of constructive dismissal; and • Do not engage in any course of conduct designed to coerce the employee to resign. You may think your secret plan is only in your head, but the cumulative actions that an employee can reasonably prove occurred could very much turn that ‘secret plan’ into a concrete blueprint in the eyes of the Employment Relations Authority. If an employer acts as a fair and reasonable employer, and the documentation shows that, it will certainly make successfully pursuing a constructive dismissal claim even more difficult than it already is for an employee. Working together across the Central North Island TELLING WAIKATO’S STORY > BY JASON DAWSON Chief Executive, Hamilton & Waikato Tourism As we rebuild the visitor economy and compete for the domestic visitor dollar, we have been working collaboratively with our neighbouring regions to grow visitation and enhance our events portfolio. Our largest collaboration is with six regions in the Central North Island on the ‘Get Out More NZ’ marketing campaign showcasing the big adventures that can be had within a short travelling distance, with a humorous twist. Phase one of the campaign poked fun at some of the family lockdown experiences that we all shared and encouraged Kiwis to ‘Get Out More’ now that we can travel safely again. The Coastal Bay of Plenty, Hamilton & Waikato, Rotorua, Ruapehu, Tairāwhiti Gisborne and Taupō are promoting Kiwis to take a themed-roadie (road trip) through the diverse landscapes in the central North Island as part of the latest phase of the campaign. With New Zealand’s borders closed, the only lifeforce for New Zealand’s tourism industry is the domestic market. In a country of just five million people with 32 regional tourism organisations, competition between tourism marketing entities is fierce. We are also partnering together attending consumer shows around the North Island under the ‘Get Out More NZ’ collective as well. Our next major consumer activation will be at Fieldays 2021 from 16-19 June at Mystery Creek. To be inspired around roadies in the Central North Island, check out www.getoutmorenz.com Another significant partnership underway is the new $3.75m Regional Events Fund which collectively covers the regions of Waikato, Rotorua, Taupō and Ruapehu. The four regions previously worked together in international longhaul markets around the Thermal Explorer Highway. Due to Covid-19 and continued international border closures, we have partnered together around developing a collective events portfolio. We know that hosting major and business events are crucial to lead the economic and social recovery of the Waikato region. Tourism New Zealand research indicates that up to one-third of domestic travel is primarily driven by people looking to participate in events. We are currently in the first round of the Regional Events Fund process with 82 Expressions of Interest received requesting over $16 million in total funding with half of the applications for new events across the four regions. Funded by the Government, the lifespan of the Regional Events Fund is 2-3 years to drive additional domestic visitation into our regions. The fund is intended to support the tourism and events sector, while replacing some of the spend from international tourists as a result of Covid- 19. To find out more, visit www.waikatonz.com/industry/ thermal-explorer-highwayregional-events-fund Another first for our region is partnering with Auckland Unlimited (previously ATEED) on a joint venture marketing campaign to encourage residents to enjoy experiences in their extended backyard. The campaign based on the familiar expression ‘love thy neighbour’ targets Auckland and Waikato residents. It is designed to encourage travel around the two regions during autumn by showcasing activities and attractions across five themes – nature, active breaks, family, relaxation and wellness, and food. Using ‘if you love this, you’ll love that’ messaging, the campaign highlights favourite Auckland and Waikato locations and activities based on travellers’ passions, and encourages them to try similar offerings in the other region. The campaign was born out of the acknowledgement that the two regions are key visitor markets for each other and wanting to support each other’s visitor economies after what has been a challenging year. We want to extend the manaakitanga to our Auckland neighbours, and through this campaign we want to inspire them to visit some of the best spots in the Waikato that match the things they love to do in Auckland. To find out more, visit : www.waikatonz.com/lovethis or www.aucklandnz.com/love-thislove-that and use the hashtags #lovethis, #mightywaikato and #visitauckland.
Page 1 and 2: SPECIAL ADVERTISING WRAP Walter van
Page 3 and 4: MARCH/APRIL VOLUME 29: ISSUE 3 2021
Page 5 and 6: From the editor Kia ora koutou This
Page 7 and 8: Data quality project promotes bette
Page 9 and 10: WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS March/April 2
Page 11 and 12: Emergency doctors open for online c
Page 13 and 14: Andrew South and Grant Edwards Urba
Page 19 and 20: EBBETT HAMILTON’S NEW HOME WAIKAT
Page 33 and 34: REMARKABLE WOMEN Lightbulb moment p
Page 35 and 36: REMARKABLE WOMEN Aasha Foley Managi
Page 37: REMARKABLE WOMEN WAIKATO BUSINESS N
Page 41 and 42: ROTOTUNA VILLAGE WAIKATO BUSINESS N
Page 43 and 44: The team at Form Building and Devel
Page 47 and 48: SPECIAL ADVERTISING WRAP All-New D-

Waikato Business News March/April 2021

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?