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Employing staff
New legislation
Changes to the Employment Relations Act (2000), which came into effect on 1 December 2005, recognises that not all staff have access to employment advice or information about legislation changes. These resources help you implement the required changes to employment agreements.
What do I need to do?
For new employees: From 1 December 2005 if you’re employing anyone new, a clause is needed in employment agreements that sets out the process in the event a business is sold. Get the latest employment contracts templates here, which have been updated to reflect the change.
For existing employees: You need to advise all paid, non-called staff members of the change in legislation. We recommend you follow this process:
- Create the new clause as an appendix to your employment agreements (Amendment to ERA template.doc)
- Send the appendix and a covering letter explaining the changes to all employees (Z4Q501)
There is no need to update the actual employment agreement itself and have it resigned by the employee; it’s sufficient for the staff member to acknowledge that they have read and understood the changes as per the covering note.
If you have questions about this legislation, please contact Juliette Bowater at Juliette(at)presbyterian.org.nz
Employment contracts
Download these templates (in Word format) to quickly create contracts for your staff:
- Casual agreement
- Lay worker (fixed term)
- Lay worker (open term)
- Non-pastoral (fixed term)
- Non-pastoral (open term)
Other resources
Recruitment and Behavioural Event Interviewing
Advice about the recruitment process, job descriptions, advertising, short listing, interviewing, using referees, open and fixed term employment agreements and probation clauses.
- Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers) about Fixed Term Individual Employment Agreements
- Example of a Position Description
- Examples of Questions to ask Referees
- Examples of Behavioural Event Questions to Use in Interviews
- The Holidays Act 2003
(Comes into force April 2004) - A guide for exit interviews
Police Checks are mandatory for Lay appointments to pastoral positions. Parishes should follow the Guidelines for Police Check process for Lay Appointments.
Please note that many of the Terms and Conditions for Lay Workers in Appendix E 19 of the Book of Order, written in 1990, were repealed at the General Assembly in 2002 and no longer apply.
Parishes are strongly encouraged to check the credit history of anyone who will be handling parish funds. For more information about credit checks, click here.