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id:2020-06-19-01:46:29:113t

It’s great to be back in the office and meeting with clients. If compliance with the COVID-19 Level 2 requirements was a little inconvenient, a move to Level 1 is welcome.

As we return, we also welcome a new member of the Canterbury Legal team. Ginny Cairns joins us to help out in reception while Amy remains on maternity leave, and to assist Sue in her office management role. Some of you may remember Ginny from her days of operating the money market for Equiticorp in Christchurch. She returns to Christchurch after a long stint in Malaysia.

Otherwise, for us, things remain as active as normal. We’ve had many clients in touch rearranging their business matters due to COVID-19; while others seek to make sure their personal arrangements such as wills and estates are all in order.

Whenever big events like this happen it’s a good time to reflect and take stock, and we’ve been happy to help a lot of people do so. We’re just an email or phone call away when you’re ready to talk about your arrangements.

In the meantime, here are a few matters which have piqued our interest over the past month.

COVID-19: Commercial Leases



During lockdown we fielded many queries from commercial tenants and commercial landlords about how to approach reductions in rent and other outgoings.

Many lease agreements from after the Christchurch earthquakes included clauses about reducing rent where a tenant can’t access their premises. That was generally interpreted as including a situation such as COVID-19, and tenants and landlords were able to reach fair agreements.

But it hasn’t been the case for all commercial tenants.

A new temporary amendment to the Property Law Act seeks to resolve things for them. It requires landlords to reduce “a fair proportion of [the] rent and outgoings” of commercial tenants who have lost revenue due to COVID-19.

The measure will apply to businesses that:

• have not yet reached any arrangement with their landlords about a rent reduction
• have 20 or fewer full-time equivalent staff at each relevant leased site
• are New Zealand-based.

Where tenants and landlords are unable to reach an agreement, they’ll go through a compulsory arbitration process, for which the Crown will provide a subsidy of up to $6,000. But it’s best for everyone if you can reach an agreement before that stage. If you’re unable to, get in touch with us—we can help you negotiate an agreement that works for everyone.

Contractor or Employee?



An estimated 5,000 people work as courier drivers in New Zealand. A recent decision in the Employment Court is likely to have quite an impact on their employment status: in some cases, where they’ve been thought to be independent contractors, they are in fact employees.

The case is Leota v Parcel Express, where the court held the plaintiff driver was an employee of the respondent company despite the fact they signed on as a contractor.

The major significance is that employees receive rights and benefits that contractors do not. And although the presiding judge confined her decision specifically to the circumstances in this situation, many lawyers see it as a test case. It may make it easier for other independent contractors to seek reclassification as employees.

If you’re an employer of independent contractors, or you carry out contract work yourself, you might wish to clarify your own situation and what you can or should do.

Christ Church Cathedral



In some very Christchurch-specific legal news, Cabinet has approved the drafting of an Order in Council (OIC) to fast-track the reinstatement of the Christ Church Cathedral.

According to the Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Hon Poto Williams, the proposed OIC should “make the reinstatement of the Cathedral more certain, prevent lengthy delays of up to two years and keep costs down”.

The OIC will only apply to the Cathedral, so unlike the items above there’s no wider legal applicability—but it’s good to see the law allowing for momentum on something that’s drawn so much attention for so long.

A lot has happened in the past month, and more still in the past quarter. We hope that when we catch up with you here in another month, things will have been a little less eventful.

In any case, we’re just an email or phone call away for any questions, help or advice.
 

Regards,

Clive, Grant and the Team at Canterbury Legal