Biotanex Core Labour & Employment Policy
Overview
Biotanex are a fair and reasonable employer adhering to New Zealand Legislation including, it is against Biotanex’s policies to employee child labour, forced labour, discrimination, and employees have the Freedom of Association and The Right to Collective Bargaining.
Biotanex Policy
Biotanex adheres to New Zealand Employment Laws including the following:
- Employment Relations Act 2000
- New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990
- Human Rights Act 1993
- Minimum Wage Act 1983
- Holidays Act 2003
- Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
Biotanex employees are entitled to minimum employment rights which includes (but not limited to):
Employment contracts (agreements)
Biotanex will give every employee a written employment agreement.
It can be either a collective agreement (between employees, employers, and unions) or an individual agreement (between an employer and employee).
Minimum pay
Minimum wage rates apply to all employees, whether they are full-time, part-time, fixed-term, or casual Employees aged 16 years and over, must be paid at least the adult minimum wage rate.
Rest and meal breaks
Employees have the right to set rest and meal breaks as per their employment agreement. How many and how long these breaks are depending on the hours they work, eg: an eight-hour workday must have at least two 10-minute paid rest breaks and one 30-minute unpaid meal break.
A six-hour workday must include one 10-minute paid rest break and a 30-minute unpaid meal break.
Annual holidays
At the end of each year of continuous employment, an employee becomes entitled to a minimum of four weeks paid annual holidays.
This is as per the Holidays Act 2003.
Public holidays
Every 12 months, employees must have 11 paid public holidays, days when the employee would normally work.
Biotanex will pay employees their relevant daily pay or average daily pay (if applicable) for the public holiday.
If an employee works on a public holiday, they must be paid at least time-and-a-half for the time worked.
If the public holiday falls on a day the employee would normally work, they are also entitled to an alternative paid day off.
Employees can decline to work on public holidays unless agreed as part of their employment agreement.
This is as per the Holidays Act 2003.
Sick leave
After six months of continuous employment, all employees are entitled to 5 days paid sick leave.
After the initial five days, employees are entitled to an extra five days’ sick leave for every 12 months.
This is as per the Holidays Act 2003.
Bereavement Leave
After six months continuous employment all employees are entitled to paid bereavement leave of; three days on the death of a spouse or partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, or parent of a spouse or partner.
One day if their employer accepts, they’ve suffered a bereavement involving another close person not included above.
This is as per the Holidays Act 2003.
Employees affected by domestic violence
People affected by domestic violence have extra legal protections at work.
These rights do not apply to the people who are violent or abusive to someone they are in a family or domestic relationship with.
This includes a partner, ex-partner, someone in their family or whanau, or by a flat mate, or someone they might not live with.
Violence can be physical, sexual, or psychological abuse.
It is also when someone is bullying or threatening or tries to control what they do or think.
This is as per the Holidays Act 2003.
Parental leave and parental leave payments
Parental leave is leave from employment to care for a child.
If certain criteria is met, employees may be eligible for: unpaid parental leave (including partner’s leave, primary career leave and extended leave), and/or government-funded parental leave payments (also called paid parental leave).
Other leave rights
Employees may be entitled to other types of leave, for example if they have been injured in a work accident or are training in the armed forces.
Discrimination
Biotanex will not discriminate in hiring or firing, paying, training, or promoting an employee because of their race, colour, national or ethnic origin, sex, or sexual orientation, marital or family status, employment status, age, religious belief or political opinion, disability, or participation in certain union activities, or if they are affected by domestic violence.
This includes people who are applying for jobs.
Employees have the same employment rights and are entitled to receive the same pay as someone doing the same job, with similar experience.
Fixed-term employees
Biotanex can only offer fixed-term employment if: there are genuine reasons – like seasonal work, project work, or where the employee is filling in for a permanent employee on leave, and where Biotanex will tell the employee the reasons, how or when the employment will end, and the employee agrees to this in their employment agreement.
Like other employment agreements, fixed-term agreements must be in writing.
Casual employees
‘Casual employee’ is not defined in employment legislation, but the term is usually used to refer to a situation where the employee has no guaranteed hours of work, no regular pattern of work, and no ongoing expectation of employment.
Biotanex does not have to offer work to the employee, and the employee does not have to accept work if it’s offered.
The employee works as and when it suits both them and Biotanex.
This can sometimes happen because it is hard for the employer to predict when the work needs to be done, or when the work needs to be done urgently.
Each time the employee accepts an offer of work it is treated as a new period of employment.
If an employee is employed to do casual work, the arrangement must be made clear in their employment agreement.
Employment rights and responsibilities also apply to casual employees, but the way in which annual holidays, sick and bereavement leave are applied can vary for these employees.
Unions
A union is an organisation that supports employees in the workplace by speaking on their behalf to employers.
Employees have the right to decide whether to join or not a union and, if so, which union.
An employer or anyone else must not pressure an employee to join or not join a union.
Health and safety
Biotanex must provide a safe workplace under the Health & Safety at Work Act 2015.
This includes proper training, supervision, and equipment.
This duty includes identifying, assessing, and eliminating (or minimising) risks and hazards, and investigating health and safety incidents.
Biotanex is also required to report serious injuries at work to WorkSafe New Zealand.
Employees are also responsible for their own health and safety.
They must follow all health and safety policies and procedures and avoid causing harm to other people by the way they do their work.
Employees may refuse work if they believe it will expose them or others to a serious risk to health and safety.
Biotanex will consult with their employees in relation to any health and safety policy.
For further information on employment refer to: http://www.employment.govt.nz/
Name: Paul Duncan Date: 30 November 2022