There's a new resource for employers on Immigration New Zealand's website.

The Employer Hub is a useful resource where you can find out about employing migrants, the visa options available to you, and how to help your new employees settle in New Zealand.

The hub is divided into four sections:

• Employing Migrants -- to help you identify appropriate visa options for the type of position you need to fill, and the steps you need to take as an employer.
  
   
• Finding & Recruiting Migrants -- to help you connect with potential candidates through a database using the free SkillFinder service, and the DoL funded NewKiwis service, as well as practical suggestions to help you get started if you are a beginner to recruiting migrants.
  
   
• Settling & Retaining Migrants -- provides you with access to information, tools and settlement support services to assist your new employee with settling into New Zealand both at work and at home, and to help your workplace welcome and retain new migrants.
  
   
• News, Tools, and Statistics -- helps you keep up to date with migrant attraction activities, find out about events for employers and migrants, access tools to assist you, and provides access to news, research and statistics related to immigration.

Visit www.immigration.govt.nz/employers for more information.

This Christmas Day (25 December 2011) and New Year's Day (1 January 2012) both fall on a Sunday.

The rules about transferring these days apply, which in this case is to transfer them to Tuesday. 

This means that if Sunday is a day an employee would otherwise have worked, those days are observed on Sunday.  If Sunday is otherwise a day that an employee would not work, the day is transferred to and observed on Tuesday.

Boxing Day (26 December 2011) and 2 January 2012 both fall on a Monday and therefore no transfer takes place, unless you have a specific transfer agreement with your employee as allowed under the 2011 Holidays Act amendment.

For more information visit the Department of Labour website.

Employment agreements have been required by law since the introduction of the Employment Relations Act 2000, yet we know that this hasn’t been practice for many employers.

From 1 July 2011, employers must keep signed copies of all employment agreements or terms and conditions of employment for all employees.

A labour inspector who finds an employer is not complying with the law will give notice, and if the matter is not remedied can seek penalties of up to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for bodies corporate.

An entitlement to paid annual holidays (annual leave) is a statutory minimum condition of employment in New Zealand. Current legislation provides each employee with access to four weeks of paid time away from their workplace each year.

Effective leave management is important in maintaining staff wellbeing, productivity and the ability to your business to deliver services efficiently and effectively. In addition, actively managing employee's annual holidays can help reduce the financial risks associated with accruing leave entitlements.

Most businesses can usually improve their leave management processes and practices to better manage risk, for example reporting and monitoring leave information and taking a proactive approach to managing staff with high leave balances.

What challenges do you have with managing annual holidays? Post a comment below.