March news - New employees

New employees

90-day trial period

Many practices are currently recruiting, and from December 23, 2023 the 90-day trial period is again available to all businesses.  The trial period is for up to 90 calendar days.

There are still criteria for the trial period to be valid.

• A trial period may be used for new employees only, meaning employees who have not previously been employed by you.
• A new employee is not automatically subject to a trial period. A trial period should be discussed during the recruitment process and must be agreed in writing. A clause must be included in the employee's individual employment agreement (IEA) and in the letter of offer. 
• If you want to employ a new employee on a trial period where a collective agreement (between a union and multiple employees) is in place, you will need to agree this with the employee separately in writing, in the letter of offer. This needs to be done even if a trial period is included in the collective agreement. You will also need to make sure that if you agree to a trial period, your agreement is not inconsistent with any of the terms of the collective employment agreement.
• The IEA containing the trial period must be signed by the employee before the employee commences work.
• If you decide to terminate an employee's employment under a trial period clause, notice of termination must be given within the trial period (which can be up to 90 days). However, the notice period itself can extend outside the trial period.
• Notice must be provided in accordance with the employee's employment agreement. The parties may agree that a shorter notice period will apply during the trial period (e.g. one week instead of four weeks), but that notice period must be recorded in the employment agreement (ideally in the trial period clause).
• A trial period is a one-off – it cannot be rolled over or extended.
• The employer's overriding obligation to act fairly and reasonably in its dealings with the employee, remains during a trial period. It is also recommended that any decision to dismiss still be preceded by a fair process.

Our HealthyPractice employment agreement templates includes a clause and letters of offer refer to this clause.

Employment agreements

All employees must have a written employment agreement that includes a position description. For new employees these documents are presented to the preferred applicant and is accompanied by a letter of offer.

The employment agreement details the terms and conditions of employment.  Our template agreements include all the clauses that must be included and some optional ones.

When you give these documents to your preferred applicant, they should be in PDF format and the employer shouldn’t have signed the document. The intended employee may come back to you and try to negotiate the terms you have offered, this is part of the process, especially in a tight recruitment market, and it will be the employers’ decision whether they wish to negotiate or if you have presented you best offer there may be no room for negotiation.  Your letter of offer should include a date when the offer is removed if the offer isn’t accepted.

You must allow the employee time to seek advice on the terms offered, this should be at least two days, but more if those days are the weekend!  Remember if your agreement includes a 90-day trial period clause the agreement must be signed before the employee starts work or it will be invalid.  Ideally you want it signed and returned at least the day before they start work.

For general medical practices

If your practice is a party to the Primary Health Care MECA (MECA) then all employees whose role falls under the coverage of the MECA, and are NZNO members, are employed under the terms and conditions of the MECA. They shouldn’t have an individual employment agreement.  If you wish to document terms and conditions that are more beneficial than those of the MECA then this can be recorded in a letter.

All new employees, whether they are NZNO members or not, and whose role is covered by the MECA are employed under the terms and conditions of the collective agreement for the first 30 days. Therefore, for non NZNO members you must provide them with both a copy of the MECA and your draft individual employment agreement so they can compare the offerings and decide whether they wish to join the NZNO.  If they choose to join the NZNO then after 30 days their employment continues under the MECA, if they choose not to join the NZNO then the terms of the individual agreement start.

We have information and a flowchart at this link and our letter of offer page includes template options for when your practice is party to the MECA, and the intended employee is an NZNO member or not.