From April 2016 the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations created new workplace and residential obligations for building owners and those working with asbestos.
According to Work Safe New Zealand, asbestos is New Zealand’s number 1 killer in the workplace, accounting for 170 deaths each year from asbestos related diseases.
The Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 (“CCLA”) comes into force on 1 September 2017 to consolidate and update New Zealand’s law relating to contracts and sales.
While there are no substantive legal changes, the CCLA will modernise the language of the repealed statutes to either clarify Parliament’s intention or reconcile inconsistencies which have developed over time with new legislation.
From April 2016 the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations created new workplace and residential obligations for building owners and those working with asbestos.
According to Work Safe New Zealand, asbestos is New Zealand’s number 1 killer in the workplace, accounting for 170 deaths each year from asbestos related diseases. The aim of the Regulations is to mitigate that impact by imposing amongst other things:
The Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill has finally passed following its introduction in 2011. It received royal assent on 14 August 2017.
The amendments are designed to benefit businesses and consumers by providing greater certainty for firms to collaborate and compete.
Many of the amendments introduced by the Bill come into force immediately. However, there is a nine month transition period to allow businesses time to check that existing arrangements do not breach the new cartel prohibition. The changes will be will be enforced by the Commerce Commission.
Recent changes to New Zealand’s tax laws have resulted in a new tax being imposed with effect from 1 July 2016.
The “Residential Land Withholding Tax” (“RLWT”) imposes a tax liability in respect of residential property sales made by “offshore RLWT persons” within 2 years of purchase if such properties were purchased after 1 October 2015.
Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016
The Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 (“Amendment Act”) received assent on 13 May 2016. It is intended to come into effect on 13 May 2018 unless the Governor-General appoints an earlier date. The Amendment Act is intended to update the Building Act 2004 (“Building Act”) primarily to balance the risk posed by earthquake-prone buildings with the significant cost and impact on the heritage value of upgrading those buildings.
The Canadian and New Zealand governments have recently entered into a Double Tax Agreement which replaces the previous Agreement of 1980.
The key features of the new Agreement (DTA) are:
ffect of Companies Amendment Act 2014 on Companies Office filing obligations
Additional information needs to be provided to the Companies Office as a result of changes introduced by the Companies Amendment Act 2014.
The main changes are:
1. New Zealand incorporated companies need to have a director who either lives in New Zealand or Australia, and if the director lives in Australia, they must be a director of a company incorporated in Australia. More…
UNFAIR CONTRACT PROVISIONS – FAIR TRADING ACT 1986
The new unfair contract provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1986 took effect from 17 March 2015.
The Commerce Commission has indicated there will be no grace period for businesses to comply. From 17 March 2015, it has been unlawful to incorporate an unfair term in a standard form of Consumer Contract.
Unfair contract terms relate primarily to clauses in standard form consumer contracts – the main hallmarks of these contracts being that the terms the provider has offered to the consumer have been on a “take it or leave it” basis and importantly the contracts relate to goods and services that are primarily for personal use. More…
ON THE GROUND DIRECTOR REQUIREMENTS FINALISED
Government has released regulations that now confirm details for the new director residency requirements that were imposed into the Companies Act 1993 (“Companies Act”) by the Companies Amendment Act 2014 (“Amendment Act”). More…