Director Dialogue with Anderson Lloyd: Navigating workplace law reform

Presentation

Speaker(s): James Cowan
Date: 8:00am — 9:00am, 4 November 2025
Venue: Anderson Lloyd
Location: Otago House, Level 12, 477 Moray Place, Central Dunedin 9016
Price members: $25.00 incl GST
Price non-members: $40.00 incl GST

Overview

From boardroom responsibilities under health and safety legislation to significant reform in employment law, recent and proposed legislative reforms are going to impact corporate and health and safety governance.

Join us for this Director Dialogue session with James Cowan, Senior Associate at Anderson Lloyd, as he discusses the implications of key workplace law reforms. Topics will include:

Anticipated clarity of governance vs. management roles under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (and why that could have changed the Gibson case)
Health and safety exemptions proposed for 'low-risk' operations
Key employment law changes and proposed changes, including:
- a "high-income threshold" for dismissal personal grievances, as well as protected 'exit' offers (and why boards are more likely to be involved);
- mandatory reduced remedies where employees have engaged in serious misconduct;
- the 'gateway' test for determining if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor;
- pay equity claim threshold changes; and
- the long-awaited rehaul of the Holidays Act.

With workplace law in a bit of a state of flux, this session will help directors understand upcoming changes and to reflect on what can be done to prepare.    

James Cowan

B.A, LL.B 

James is a Senior Associate at Anderson Lloyd. His expertise and experience cover a broad spectrum of workplace legal issues, including health and safety, statutory compliance, workplace investigations, disciplinary matters, whistleblowing, M&A due diligence, restraint of trade, restructuring, disputes and litigation, and regulatory investigations. After six years' working in Auckland, James returned to Dunedin at the end of 2017 to join Anderson Lloyd.

James is the current Vice-President of the New Zealand Law Society Otago Branch Council and Co-Convenor of the Otago Employment Law Committee.

Additional information

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Branch event cancellation policy

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