Tips for Employing Summer Staff

As we head into the Christmas rush and you start to employ staff for summer, it is important to make sure you’re treating your employees fairly and according to the law. This also applies to any seasonal staff you might take on at other times. Here are three tips to help you stay on the right side of the law.

TIP 1: All employees must have a signed employment agreement before they start work.

Regardless of how long you’re employing a staff member for, they MUST have a signed employment agreement before they start work. The contract must include certain clauses, including the type of employment (fixed-term, casual, or permanent), duties, pay, and other benefits, the place and hours of work, how problems can be resolved, etc.

Make sure to give your new employees adequate time (3-5 days) to read, understand, and ask questions before they sign the contract.

If you’re not sure what to include in an employment agreement, use templates from a New Zealand employment advisory service or an employment agreement builder to help you put together a legal employment contract. Federated Farmers also have an array of employment agreements which can be bought online. These agreements cover what you must do by law, and sets out common mistakes made by employers and how to avoid them.

TIP 2: Make sure you’ve included the minimum employee rights.

All employees have minimum rights set out in law. These minimum rights include:

• Minimum wage: Employees must be paid at least the minimum wage; the current adult minimum rate is $23.15 per hour.
• Public holidays: Unless written in the contract, employees don’t have to work on public holidays. If they work on a public holiday, they must be paid time and a half, plus if it is a normal workday for them, they also get an alternative day off.
• Health and safety: Employers must provide appropriate training and information for workers so that they can work safely.

TIP 3: Make sure the hours your employees work are following the rules

One of the common mistakes is that any set up or tidying up doesn’t need to be paid. All work activities must be paid for, regardless of their time. This includes before and/or after-hours tasks, such as team meetings, opening and closing the business, cleaning and tidying up, on-the-job training, and product familiarisation.

You also can’t offer zero work hours and expect employees to be available ,without reasonable compensation.

The work hours must include proper rest and meal breaks. For example, an employee who works an eight-hour shift gets two paid rest breaks and one unpaid meal break.

If you need advice or support with creating a new employment agreement or with staff induction, let us know – we’re happy to help.