Three areas of focus in industrial relations have the potential to impact on the future of work, on the law regarding employment agreements.

These areas of focus are:

1. The legal definitions of employees and independent (and dependent) contractors in New Zealand, and the legal issues when there is a dispute as to the whether a person is an employee or an independent contractor.
2. Paid Parental Leave
3. Four-Day Working Week

Required: Briefly outline the significant features of these three areas of focus, including their current legal status.

1. In your analysis of employees and independent (and dependent) contractors, include an outline of the current legislative and common law rules (court decisions), and the impact of recent decisions of the NZ courts. Briefly outline recent legal developments that have occurred in other countries regarding independent contractors.
2. For the Paid Parental Leave discussion, outline the key features of the current law, together with a brief overview of the equivalent Australian model. Briefly discuss areas of the current law and policy where more flexibility may be beneficial to new parents.
3. Outline the benefits and challenges of the Four Day Working Week initiative; the research to date that supports the initiative, and likely challenges that the initiative may face if it is to achieve widespread market acceptance.