News and views

In the wake of Canterbury’s devastating earthquakes, the Supreme Court has handed down a decision providing building owners, councils and insurers a clear steer on seismic strengthening.

Anyone thinking employment law is a bit of a dry, stuffy old affair need only take in some of the headline grabbers of the past few months to realise just how heated – and public – the fallout from workplace relations-gone-sour can become.

In the lead up to the silly season, most law firms exist in a state of (hopefully) well-managed urgency – a frenetic dash to the finish line that is Christmas, amid a flurry of late-breaking, pressing legal matters that really can’t wait until January.

I read some jaw-dropping stats on a news site recently. Surely, surely they can’t be that high, I mused. I headed straight to the website of the statistical source, Statistics New Zealand, and, sure enough, the rate of injury-based claims to ACC from our high-risk sectors – forestry, agriculture and fishing – was more than sobering.

Subcontractors owed money are to get better protection for payment for work done in changes to the Construction Contracts Act approved by Government, Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith announced.

A North Island egg farmer’s free range egg scam has been well and truly cracked by authorities in a case that serves as a stiff warning to all traders that flouting consumer laws is a risky business indeed. Around 200,000 customers and 38 retailers were duped in the rort, in which the farmer labelled more than 206,000 dozen cage eggs as free range, and, by Commerce Commission estimates, pocketed an extra $375,000 for his deception.

Have you ever been bamboozled when a shop assistant offers you an extended warrant on your latest purchase? Maybe you’ve bought something online that just doesn’t work when it is delivered to your door. Fear not, the law is at work to protect you.

For anyone contemplating a business move, I’d love to tell you it’s a cinch: sign a lease, call in the removers, and ta-da – relocation signed, sealed and delivered. If only.