News | MAS

13 May 2025

90-day trial periods

Over the last month we have had quite a few queries about 90-day trial periods. These questions have included their validity when there have been paid training days. Paid training days before formalising employment complicates things. Once you pay someone for undertaking work they are seen as an employee, and at this stage you haven’t provided the applicant with any terms and conditions of work in their employment agreement. Having a signed agreement before starting work is a legislative requirement.

11 March 2025

Upcoming Changes

This newsletter we are highlighting upcoming changes – in the near future when you log onto HealthyPractice you will notice that the website has had a refresh and will be sporting the new MAS branding. On 1 April 2025 the adult minimum wage will increase from $23.15 to $23.50. The training wage also increases from $18.52 to $18.80. We are also highlighting some of the Coalition Government changes they are considering making to legislation in the employment space. These will probably be brought before the house in the second half of this year. The changes aim to boost productivity, simplify hiring and firing and reduce compliance costs.

10 December 2024

Christmas Greetings

The years seem to be shorter and shorter and 2024 has passed in a flash. We hope that you are looking forward to some days off as much as we are. It has been another busy year and a very challenging one for many practices.

19 November 2024

Resilience in challenging times

Working in a health practice is a challenging environment. It’s always busy and the people you are dealing with are often stressed and facing difficult situations. Workforce shortages are affecting all areas of health, which in turn leads to pressure on your practice staff as they need to work longer hours and deal with more complex patients, often doing more with less.

16 October 2024

Cybersmart week and Business Life Plan

Cyber Smart week is 21-27 October. Cert NZ the Government Agency will be providing information on their website. The focus this year is to raise the importance of being secure on-line and encouraging the use of two-factor authentication and maintaining strong passwords.

17 September 2024

September newsletter

This month we have highlighted the recent Court Appeal determination that four Uber drivers are in fact employees not contractors. We are also looking at the Institute of Directors guidelines on the responsibilities of Directors under health and safety legislation, and privacy guidelines from the Office of the Privacy Commission.