When is a worker an employee or a contractor? Late last year I wrote about an Employment Court case brought by James Bryson, a model maker on The Lord of the Rings movies. The Court decided he was an employee. Karin, in my book group, was interested. For some time, she has wanted the hairdressers in her business to be…
Dear Reader Thank-you for applying to work on this column. Welcome to your job interview. I’m now going to ask you some questions. As I must comply with the employment laws, I’ll tell you as we go along if my questions are lawful or not. I already have your name, and that you have experience in this type of work,…
Earlier this year Neil, a clothing factory owner and member of my book group, had problems with employees suffering from “Mondayitis”. Neil’s solution was to tell them that when they had used their annual sick leave entitlement they would not be paid for more sick leave. The improvement in his workers’ health has been remarkable, he says. Last week Neil…
Gone are the days when new employees were hired to start work immediately. If there wasn’t much work, you hired them, and they stayed until the work ran out. Now such arrangements have to be planned and recorded in advance, so they comply with the Employment Relations Act 2000. This can be complicated. Take Deirdre, owner of a perfume and…
It isn’t always easy getting people to work together. Though they may share similar goals, the methods they use to achieve these can differ. Take the book group I belong to. Last time we met, Cyril suggested a book for our next meeting. Karin said it wasn’t book group material. She looked at the rest of us for our agreement….
Everyone seems to be discussing bird flu these days. I wasn’t surprised when it came up at our recent book group meeting. Our new member Barbara runs a recruitment and temping business. She said, while we were having a cup of tea, that if there was a bird flu outbreak, we wouldn’t be able to meet for a while. I…
Are Harry Potter books the best-sellers of all time? This worried our recent book group meeting. No one had dared select the latest, but Harry still came up. Hairdresser Karin said her clients talked about him for days. She wished she could earn the same at hairdressing. Instead, she said, she has sleepless nights worrying that a stylist could leave…
I sometimes wonder what became of Mr Cox. He was a highly valued executive with Philips Industries in England. A rival company tried to entice him away. Philips responded with a promotion and a pay rise. Later, foolishly as it turned out, Mr Cox complained that his annual pay rise wasn’t high enough. Suddenly, he found himself demoted to a…