September/October 2021 - Bay of Plenty Business News

September/October 2021 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS 15
Mandatory record keeping:
What you need to know
In the wake of the recent lockdown, the Government has announced that mandatory record keeping is being
introduced for busy places and large gatherings. This means those responsible for businesses and events will
need to ensure people keep a record when they visit, either by scanning QR codes with the Covid-19 Tracer
App or making a manual record. Mandatory record keeping is currently required at social gatherings including
when visiting a marae, at weddings, funerals, tangihanga and faith-based services at Alert Level 2. It will now
be a requirement for those businesses and events that are permitted at any Alert Level.
Sebastian Hartley, solicitor at Holland Beckett Law, discusses the changes and your obligations.
New Zealand is famous world
wide for its Covid-19 stopping
lockdowns, but our ability to
sustain regional and localised lockdowns,
and avoid the full economic
impact of shutting down our economy,
is only because of our ability to
contact trace quickly and effectively.
As the last few days have demonstrated,
this ability is of critical importance
in the new Delta environment.
This is why the Government has now
made the decision to formally require
contact tracing records to be kept at
all alert levels.
This will expand the range of
businesses required to contact trace
and apply this requirement at all alert
levels.
Current Obligations
Contact tracing has obvious privacy
concerns – it requires people to provide
personal information and creates
an accessible record of the places they
have been.
Making it mandatory has continued
to be controversial throughout the
pandemic and, probably as a result,
the Government has held off on making
it a mandatory requirement unless
there is an active outbreak.
Under the current rules, at Alert
Level 1, businesses’ and event managers’
are only required to display a QR
code at or near their main entrance.
There has not been a requirement for
customers to sign in.
It has only been at Level 2 and
above that certain kinds of businesses
have been required to keep a record
of who has visited – and to monitor
their customer’s compliance with that
requirement.
Outside of businesses, there have
also been record keeping requirements
for social gatherings – in particular,
gatherings at marae, weddings,
funerals, tangihanga and religious
services. Again, this has only applied
at Alert Level 2 and above.
The New Requirements
The Government has now announced
that it will be requiring businesses to
do more work to support contact tracing
going forward.
This is because in a Delta environment,
as the latest outbreak shows,
by the time alert levels change, thousands
of people may already have
been exposed. Being able to quickly
and accurately identify those people
will be the main tool in avoiding the
need to move to Level 4 again in the
future.
The new changes mean that the
contact tracing requirements will
extend to a much wider collection
of businesses and events. They will
also apply even at Level 1. Contact
tracing will now be a part of the ‘new
normal’.
The Government does not usually
release the full details of future alert
levels until they take effect – draft
orders are not being published in
advance.
But based on the announcements
to date, and the previous rules that
have been put in place, it is clear that
most businesses will now be captured,
including:
• visitors to aged care and healthcare
facilities;
• cinemas, theatres, casinos and
concerts;
• customers at massage parlours,
beauticians, barbers, hairdressers
and exercise facilities;
• customers at cafes, restaurants,
bars and nightclubs;
• indoor public facilities, such as
libraries, museums, swimming
pools;
• social gatherings including those
at marae, weddings, funerals,
tangihanga and faith-based services;
and
• visitors to courts and tribunals,
local and central government
The new changes mean that the contact tracing
requirements will extend to a much wider
collection of businesses and events. They will also
apply even at Level 1. Contact tracing will now be
a part of the ‘new normal’.”
agencies, and social services
providers with customer service
counters such as councils, Ministry
of Social Development offices.
It is not clear whether this will
apply to large-volume businesses like
supermarkets and petrol stations that
are currently open – but which are not
required to contact trace customers at
present.
It is likely that this will also be
combined with a requirement for customers
to sign in themselves, although
the Government has made clear that
the emphasis on enforcement will be
on businesses not individuals.
However, this may change over
time as people get more used to the
requirement of scanning in wherever
they go.
These new restrictions will be
in force in each region about seven
days after it enters Level 3. This will
give businesses a week’s grace to get
up to speed with the new measures.
However, we are recommending that
businesses start immediately, so they
can iron out any difficulties with their
systems.
Penalties
Once a new order is put in place to
cover the contact tracing requirements,
the same penalties will apply
under the Covid-19 Public Health
Response Act 2020, which provides
the authority for the Government’s
actions.
Under this Act there are effectively
three levels of penalty that can
be applied:
• An infringement notice (like a
speeding ticket) for $300 for any
breach
• An infringement offence – which
is like an infringement notice but
must go through the Court and can
include a fine of up to $1000; and
• A conviction offence – for intentionally
breaching the order –
which carries a conviction and a
maximum penalty of six months
imprisonment or a fine of up to
$4000.
So far, the police have been cautious
in using their formal powers
and have only charged people who
are either committing quite serious
offending or who have repeatedly
failed to comply.
We expect this to continue – people
who are caught out by accident
in the early days will likely receive
warning or infringement notices; people
who refuse to comply and continue
to act in breach may be charged.
It is important to note that Courts
take these offences seriously. During
the March 2020 lockdown, many
people who breached received short
sentences in prison: deliberate flouting
of the law carries a very real risk
of similar treatment. For many people
the risk of a criminal conviction will
also be a significant deterrent.
Privacy
While businesses will now be required
to comply with these obligations, it
is important that they also take into
account their obligations under the
Privacy Act 2020 when recording
information. Key obligations include:
• Only gathering information that is
necessary;
• Only using information for the
purpose for which it was gathered;
and
• Destroying information when it is
no longer needed.
Contact tracing information
should be kept separate and destroyed
after a matter of weeks. It should not
be used for other purposes (like client
data bases) without specific permission.
As the information is highly personal,
it must also be stored carefully
to avoid anyone accessing it.
The risks of getting things wrong
in terms of privacy are serious with
compensation for breaches often
exceeding $10,000.
With the frequent changes to the
rules, it is important to have people
on your side who understand the
requirements and can help you ensure
your business complies with all of the
requirements.
Our team are more than happy to
discuss your situation and help you
better understand your rights, obligations,
and options.
• Content supplied by Holland
Beckett Law
LawVu receives fund injection
An industry-leading Tauranga start up has crowned off
a major earnings surge with a capital injection of $17
million from a New York venture capital and equity firm.
By RICHARD RENNIE
LawVu, a company developing
and selling software for in-house
legal teams has welcomed the
$17 million, which includes support
from Australian venture capital firm
AirTree Ventures.
Sam Kidd, LawVu co-founder,
welcomed the significant capital
injection at a time when corporates
were intensifying efforts to improve
their counsels’ technology.
“In house legal teams perform a
critical function inside every corporation.
However, you will often find
the only ‘tech’ they have is email and
word documents.
“Legal teams are becoming a bottleneck,
as the rest of the business
leverages off technology and speeds
up.”
The firm was established by Kidd
and Tim Boyne in 2015, stemming in
part from Boyne’s employment with
a leading city firm, and his frustration
at the delays in compiling monthly
reports for big company clients.
Combined talents
The men combined talents, with
Boyne’s experience in law IT systems
and Kidd’s ability project managing
software development pushing the
company along quickly.
LawVu combines a range of software
tools based around document
creation, record keeping and time
management under one umbrella,
replacing the Post-it notes Kidd says
are often employed by teams to keep
track of jobs.
The platform allows teams to manage
all their matters, contracts, documents,
e-billing, outsourced work,
and reporting from one cloud-based,
secure, and connected platform, with
a connected third-party tools critical
to a high-performing in-house
function.
The initial big break for the company
came with Telstra adopting
the software suite, and other large
Australian corporates and public
entities quickly following. Large clients
in New Zealand include Zespri,
Fonterra, Sky, and Harcourts. The
company’s technology is now in 30
countries.
LawVu is considered
the leader in this
space amongst many
of the most tech
savvy in-house legal
teams in the world.”
– James Cameron
James Cameron, a partner in Air-
Tree Ventures, said there was a big
push globally to get in-house legal
teams up to speed with technology,
and improve their efficiency in the
process.
“LawVu is considered the leader in
this space amongst many of the most
tech savvy in-house legal teams in the
world. It is also fantastic to be investing
alongside world-class global
investors like Insight to help continue
to grow the business in its biggest
markets in the US and Europe.”
He said there was significant
demand from global investors to
invest in fast-growing Australian and
New Zealand tech businesses.
The injection comes after the company
earlier secured $2.5 million of
funding through convertible notes,
supported by NZ Growth Capital
Partners.
Funding has also come from local
investor Craig Wearne who liked the
idea from the get-go.
The latest investment enables the
company to continue to optimise
in-house legal team performance and
increase their engagement with the
broader business.