News-making decision sends clear message to employers
The Employment Court has declared that three Gloriavale members were employees from the age of six through to when they left the Gloriavale community.
Who is an employee?
To determine whether someone is an employee, the substance of the relationship and how that works in practice needs to be looked at. In this case, the members:
- worked regularly for long hours
- worked for the reward of the necessities of life (food, laundry, etc)
- worked under strict control; and
- the work was for the commercial benefit of Gloriavale.
This combination led the Court to rule that the members were employees.
What does this mean for Gloriavale?
Gloriavale will likely be ordered to pay significant fines – this decision has not been made yet. However, the flow on effects of the case have already started. A large dairy company has already indicated that they are going to stop contracting with Gloriavale.
What does this mean for you?
While most work places or households don’t run themselves like Gloriavale, the case has sent a clear message for employers. If a volunteer is found to be an employee, their employer will be liable for all of their rights and entitlements.
How can we help?
WRMK Lawyers has Northland’s largest team of employment law specialists. If you need some help or guidance, please give one of us a call or contact your usual WRMK lawyer for advice. You can view our Employment Law team here.
WRMK Lawyers takes all reasonable care to make sure that the information in this article is up-to-date and accurate at today’s date. It is necessarily general information and not intended as legal advice to be relied upon.
Our thanks to Laura Lee for writing this article.
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