Legal lowdown newsletter#5

LEGAL LOWDOWN

NEWSLETTER #5 November 2013

ONLINE SHOPPING – BEWARE! Online Shopping 2 We look at the dangers of online shopping and provide helpful tips to keep safe while browsing and buying online

Events

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A brief overview of recent and upcoming CLSST events and legal services, including our outreach clinics, public events and seminars

Housing

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We provide an update on recent changes to housing laws, policies and issues affecting our South Auckland and surrounding communities

EMPLOYMENT CLOSEDOWN OVER THE CHRISTMAS PERIOD: YOUR RIGHTS CHRISTMAS CLOSEDOWN PERIOD: EMPLOYMENT Although the Christmas holiday period is a time for everyone to spend quality time with family and friends, it can also be an extremely stressful time for those who have little money to spare.

Many workplaces close down over the Christmas holiday period. Employers can nominate a date when the closure will start and when it will end as long as they give at least 14 days’ notice of the closure period.

It is important to note that there is no limit as to the length of the closure.

During the closure period, an employee may take annual leave to ensure that they are paid over the closure period. If they do not have enough or any annual leave remaining, the employee may be able to take annual leave in advance with the consent of the employer.

If the employer does not agree to annual leave being taken in advance, they can require the employee to take unpaid annual leave. This means that the employee won’t be paid for the closure period.

If you are an employee who does not have sufficient annual leave, or you think you might not be paid over the closure period, you might want to check how Work and Income New Zealand (“WINZ”) can help you.

It might be as small as a food grant or something ongoing such as an Emergency Benefit.

We recommend that you contact WINZ on 0800 559 009 to see how or if they can help over the Christmas Closedown period.

FIND US ONLINE:

FREE LEGAL SERVICES We provide FREE Legal Services to the South Auckland Area (except Mangere).

Our services range from Legal Advice, Assistance and Information to Legal Education and Representation.

Check out PAGE 3 for more details on our upcoming events and services.

For more details please contact: Our office on (09) 274 4966 or See our website: www.otaracommunitylawcentre.com

KEEP SAFE WHEN SHOPPING ONLINE FOR CHRISTMAS PREZZIES: 5 ONLINE SHOPPING DANGERS

BUYING gifts for Christmas can be an extremely stressful and time-consuming time, especially with work, family and social commitments and the growing prices of gifts. Most people nowadays are looking for the cheap and easy way to buy and give Christmas presents. For this reason online shopping has become a “go-to” for hassle free gift shopping, but there are dangers in shopping online that we all should be aware of. In this edition of Legal Lowdown we provide some helpful tips to stay safe while shopping online.

PERSONAL DETAILS & IDENTITY THEFT Identity theft is an issue that has come to our attention recently.

According to the Department of Internal Affairs (“DIA”) website, over 133,000 New Zealanders may be victims of identity theft each year.

To keep your personal information safe online, you should: Check the site’s privacy policy which should set out the reasons why your personal information is being collected and why and how it is going to be used. The policy should also state where your personal information will be stored.

Only give details if they are necessary, remember that the more you give, the more vulnerable you are to online scams including identity theft.

If you believe that your identity may have been stolen, contact the police or DIA.

ONLINE FAKES AND FRAUDS Too often we hear of “knock-off” or “imitation” products being sold by rogue online retailers and shopping sites. Often you can find designer or high-end products being sold for 50-60% off the retail price. You have to ask yourself the question, why is this being sold at such a low price? It is likely that it is a fake or imitation product.

To ensure you are buying genuine products make sure you do a background check on the third party seller. There may be online reviews or blogs from other customers who may have had negative or positive experiences with the online retailer.

All in all, a little bit of homework will go a long way.

RETURN, REFUND AND WARRANTY POLICY It is difficult to return an item if you simply change your mind but you could also run into difficulties where there is a no refund policy or where you have purchased goods from overseas and the warranty policy might not apply in New Zealand.

Before you buy, make sure you have read the return and refund policy. It may be that you are not entitled to a money refund but are only able to take a store credit. Also, check to see if the warranty applies to your purchase and look at extending the warranty for extra protection.

ONLINE AUCTIONS WATCH OUT FOR HIDDEN COSTS Online retailers often hide actual costs until late in the checkout process. Although the price of the product might seem too good to pass up, there is bound to be other costs involved like shipping, postage and handling fees, membership fees and those dreaded credit card and administration fees. After the addition of all the hidden costs, the actual cost of the transaction could end up being 20% more then you thought.

Before clicking “buy now” make sure you fully read the terms and conditions of your purchase and check that you have identified and calculated all other hidden costs. The purchase may not be as cheap as you think.

Online auction sites such as Trade Me and EBay are generally really good places to find a new or used bargain. But be careful! There is less protection for purchases by auction as the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and Fair Trading Act 1986 do not apply to purchases of this nature. You may have grounds to a refund if the seller has made false representations to you about the product being bought.

Before buying by online auction, check the seller’s feedback to see if they are credible. Also make sure you ask plenty of questions about the quality of the product and only buy if you are satisfied that the seller is legitimate.

SERVICE CLINICS Otara CLSST Office 120 Bairds Road Otara

Otahuhu We currently do not have an Outreach clinic in Otahuhu

Appointments available: Monday – Friday

Manukau Salvation Army 16B Bakerfield Place Manukau

Papakura Papakura Citizens Advice Bureau 4a Opaheke Road Papakura

Appointments available: Monday-Friday

Appointments available: Thursday

Pukekohe Heartland Services 2 King Street Pukekohe

Manurewa Manurewa Marae 81 Finlayson Ave Manurewa

Flat Bush Hilltop Community Centre 30 Hilltop Road Flat Bush

Flat Bush Chapel Downs Primary School 170 Dawson Rd, Flat Bush

Appointments available: Fortnightly on Tuesday

Appointments available: Wednesday

Appointments available: Fortnightly on Friday

Appointments available: Fortnightly on Wednesday

CLSST SERVICES

RECENT AND UPCOMING EVENTS NEW ZEALAND LAW AWARDS 2013 This year we were fortunate enough to be nominated for the New Zealand Law Awards, Community Services category.

We are grateful that our community truly appreciates the work we do and the relationships we have forged in the past 12 months and prior.

CLSST Lawyers Soane Foliaki & Jesse Tata at NZ Law Awards 2013

We would like to send a HUGE thanks to all those who nominated us and the kind sentiments expressed through their nominations.

We would also like to congratulate Minter Ellison Rudd Watts for taking out the Award for Community Services, what a well-deserved win!

We are extremely happy to know that there are so many law firms and organisations out there, serving the legal needs of our community. Congratulations all round!

CLSST Lawyers Wi Pere Mita, Johnny Nu’u & Hardeep Singh at NZ Law Awards 2013

IMMIGRATION ISSUES SEMINAR On 20 November we held a public seminar on immigration issues, focusing on people unlawfully in New Zealand.

One of our experienced immigration lawyers Hardeep Singh spoke to a full house at Clover Park Community House with the event being attended by health organisations, CABs, Churches, Social Workers, Immigration Consultants and the general public.

We received lots of positive feedback and look forward to hosting another session in the near future.

CLSST Lawyer Hardeep Singh Delivering “Immigration Issues” Seminar, Clover Park Community House, Manukau

SCHOOL LEAVER’S SURVIVAL KIT – LAW IN SCHOOLS Our legal education team has been flat tack preparing resources for our SCHOOL LEAVER’S SURVIVAL KITS. These legal education sessions are aimed at those who are leaving school or alternative education courses to enter into the big wide world.

The sessions are designed to increase student awareness of legal rights before making the transition from student to young adult. This Month we have presented the survival kit to several schools and alternative education providers including Education Action and Otahuhu College. The sessions have been received well by staff and students with positive feedback provided by all participants.

We look forward to running more law education sessions in schools in the coming weeks.

CLSST Lawyer Tu’ulata Titimanu delivering a School Leaver Survival Kit session to Otahuhu College Students

HOUSING ON MAORI LAND IN light of the new changes to the mortgage lending rules (as discussed in our last newsletter) Kiwibank has stepped up to make building on Maori land more accessible.

Earlier this month the Government agreed to changes to the Kainga Whenua Loan and Kainga Whenua Infrastructure Grants. Some of the changes that have been applied is the removal of the mandatory requirement to build re-locatable houses as long as there is alternative security for the loan.

LOWER BREATH ALCOHOL BILL – A BREACH OF NEW ZEALAND BILL OF RIGHTS? Lower Breath Alcohol bill – a breach of Bill of Rights?

According to a recent New Zealand Law Society publication, the Attorney-General has issued a report providing that the Land Transport Amendment Bill (“the bill”)appears to be inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1991 (“BORA”).

The bill proposes to lower the breath alcohol limit which is currently 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

The bill also proposes to remove the right to elect a blood test to determine a person’s

breath alcohol level for drivers whose breath test exceeds 250 but does not exceed 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The election is used as a safeguard against errors that may arise from breath tests.

The aim of Kainga whenua loans is to help Maori land trusts and other collectives to develop housing on ancestral Maori land.

The Attorney-General reports that "Failing to provide the recognised safeguard of being

Maori land is land defined under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 as any land registered as Maori land or general land owned by Maori.

innocent affirmed in section 25(c) of the Bill of Rights Act."

Urban Maori will also benefit from this as they can unite with their families in rural areas to help build papakainga or communal living spaces.

able to elect a blood sample, combined with the conclusive presumption created by section 77(1) of the Act, means that the Bill appears to limit the right to be presumed