Employers recognise benefits but don’t know where to start
Employers see the value in employee health and well-being. The case for action is clear, but many employers still ask, “Where do we start?” Continue →
Author Rachel Loo
Buckle up, relax and and enjoy the ride
The age of autonomous vehicles is no longer a distant promise. Continue →
A deep dive into RMA reform
On 9 December 2025, the New Zealand Government released the Natural Environment Bill and the Planning Bill. Continue →
Driving the future of mobility. Mobility is changing, and with it comes a new era of fleet management, technology, and sustainable transport solutions. The Fleet, Tech & e-Mobility Conference & Expo 2026 is where New Zealand’s fleet leaders, automotive industry & transport system innovators, and policymakers come together to explore the future of movement and the transition to smarter, cleaner, and more connected mobility.
Yes minister, and selective hearing
WorkSafe New Zealand has issued a new four-year Statement of Intent 2025-2029, in part reflecting a government directive that will significantly refocus the crown agency from prosecution to support. Continue →
Cannabis, cocaine and the workplace drug landscape
Workplace drug and alcohol risks were a health and safety challenge for employers throughout 2025. Continue →
Australia’s toll roads are mainly built and operated by public–private partnership contracts to shift financial risk from government . The New Zealand government is actively encouraging the same funding model here — a private operator finances, builds and maintains a road in return for the right to collect tolls — often for decades at a time. The problem is that investors build these risks back into the contracts they have with governments.
A Future Fund would secure New Zealand’s infrastructure pipeline, a positive step towards long-term, non partisan infrastructure planning, says a member association which promotes best practice for transport, energy, water, telecommunications and social infrastructure. “Labour’s proposed New Zealand Future Fund could also depoliticise key aspects of the funding process – a long overdue move,” says Infrastructure New Zealand chief Nick Leggett. The Future Fund should complement, not replace, other investment tools.
A survey by Content Partner McKinsey reports that nearly nine out of 10 survey respondents say their organizations are regularly using AI although most have not yet embedded them deeply enough into their workflows and processes to realize material enterprise-level benefits. Organizations are also beginning to explore opportunities with AI agents — systems based on foundation models capable of acting in the real world, planning and executing multiple steps in a workflow.
Height safety basics missed in preventable fall from pole
WorkSafe is cautioning all businesses that work at height to review their safety systems, following sentencing for a fall that nearly killed a KiwiRail employee. Continue →
Election year brinksmanship games are underway early with voters promised free doctor visits from one side and now a call for rate caps in 2027 from the incumbent government. Infrastructure New Zealand’s Nick Leggett warns that the Government’s proposed rate capping policy risks weakening councils at a time when the country urgently needs stronger, better-resourced local government to maintain and build the infrastructure that communities rely upon.
Link Financial has partnered with AI technology company Afterburner to transform the workday for hundreds of advisers, loan writers and administrators in Link’s network. Afterburner automates administrative tasks including mortgage recommendations, analysing business financial statements, bank handover forms, compliance documentation and client interview notes, drafting mortgage applications and writing up expert-level communications to clients and banks. Tasks that previously could take up to a couple of hours can now be completed in seconds.
McKinsey takes a 16-country look at the productivity of micro, small and medium-size enterprises which account for more than half of global GDP, make up more than 90 percent of companies worldwide and provide 21 percent of total banking revenue pools. New Zealand was not one of the study countries but Australia was and offers valuable information for SME on both sides of the ditch.
The Drug Detection Agency has a stark warning for employers as the festive season approaches. It recommends educational activity before year-end social events, which often coincide with an unwarranted social tolerance for substance use. Its latest report details the most pressing issues for employers following an eight percent jump in cannabis detections nationwide and concern that opioid positivity rates “remain stubbornly high at 18.6 percent.”
Increase in cannabis use sparks workplace fears
The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA) tracks regional fluctuations in drug detections to allow employers to better address workplace safety through targeted testing and education services. Continue →
Multitudes of studies conducted over decades have failed to find compelling evidence of a link. Still, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has publically softened its stance that vaccines do not cause autism over the objections of career staff and counter to years of scientific evidence, the latest proof according to the subscription based Atlantic magazine, that health secretary and longtime vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is remaking US Health and Human Services in his own image.
A real-time waste analytics platform is transforming workers from manual sorters into data-driven decision-makers, upskilling teams rather than downsizing them. “We wanted to make our data accessible and usable with as little training as possible. As an operator, you want to use tools that are tailored to your needs. That’s why we spent a lot of time developing intuitive dashboards that make data easy to understand and act on,” says Gaspard Duthilleul from Greyparrot
Not great news for the anti fluoride brigade
A long-term US study shows water fluoridation at recommended levels doesn’t reduce cognitive ability, with kids who drank such water doing slightly better in school tests. Continue →
If your business owes more than $1000 in tax debt that is between six months and five years old, you might receive a call from IRD soon. They will encourage you to pay up or set up an instalment arrangement. If you owe $10,000 or more you will still have a chance to call on support from IRD but the options start to tighten up after that if you ignore warnings.
