ROYAL BUSINESS COLLEGE

Business Law – MBL8090

Submitted By:

Student Id:

Submitted to: Piumi

Contents
Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................................. 3
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ 4
Modification in a Valid Contract ............................................................................................................ 5
Intention to create legal binding and enforceability of the contract ........................................................ 5
Binding Contract ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Deleting information from documents .................................................................................................... 8
Seeking of private information ............................................................................................................... 8
Privacy act for non-public sector agencies ............................................................................................. 9
Regulations for Health and safety in employment.(employment relations act 2000) ........................... 10
Union's responsibility for employees and members of union (Employment act of New Zealand 1992)
.............................................................................................................................................................. 10
Legal Engagement of both employees and employers for workplace safety (Employment act of New
Zealand 1992) ....................................................................................................................................... 11
Holding confidential information of any employee .............................................................................. 12
Remedies ............................................................................................................................................... 12
List of References ................................................................................................................................. 14

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 Acknowledgement

I am using this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me

throughout the course of writing this assignment. I am thankful for their aspiring guidance,
invaluably constructive criticism and friendly advice during the assignment work.

I express my warm thanks to Ms. Piumi for her invaluable support and guidance. I also want
to thank the Director of Royal Business College for providing use resources such as writing
instruments and computers for conducting web research.

I also acknowledge the efforts all the people who provided me with the facilities being
required and conductive conditions for my Business Laws assignment.

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Executive Summary

The assignment focuses on the Business laws related to the Contract Act, Employment Act
and privacy act. The assignment is divided into four questions. The first question describes
modification of a valid contract and explanation of binding contract. The second question
discusses privacy act, 1993 and information regarding seeking a private information. The
third question discusses legal safety of employees at a workplace, legal terms between
employee and employer at a workplace at other facts of employment act. The final question
discusses the powers of employers and employees concerning withholding private
information as per privacy act.

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Ques 1

Modification in a Valid Contract

A contract may be understood by the following equation :
Contract = Agreement + Enforceability at Law
where Agreement = Offer + Acceptance
Hence, a Contract may be defined as an agreement with legal enforceability or simply a
lawful agreement. An agreement on the other hand is concurrence in return of some
consideration.
A Valid Contract further is characterised by following features:
VALID CONTRACT= (Offer +Acceptance) + Consideration + Intention to create legal
binding + Capability of both the parties + Lawful Contract

In order to reform or modify any valid contract, Both the parties must agree as bi-lateral
agreement is required. Any unilateral modification in the terms of the contract are illicit. The
Modification in the contractual terms is possible by individual compliance, when party
wishes to change the term; or collective compliance, when changing the terms becomes a
necessity for both the parties.
Contractual Remedies Act 1979 comes into action in cases involving breach of contract or
whereby the contracts are unfair. In those cases, if the Court announces the contract to be
nefarious, the contract is gridlocked and performance of the terms is prohibited.
In cases pertaining to changes in terms of contracts pertaining to agreements between
employee and the employer, that is, employment contracts the updating the contract requires
the compliance of employee. The employee must be set free to seek advice over the changes
in the agreement and put forward his/her opinions where he/she is not comfortable.

Intention to create legal binding and enforceability of the contract

A contract as already explained in the previous question is a promise or agreement made at

law. A Valid contract is always characterised by an offer made by one party to the second
party followed by acceptance. This does not solely constitute a contract. For this agreement to
be considered as a Contract there must be an intention of developing a legal binding between
the parties. That is what makes, any agreement constitutional at law, a contract.

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The cases which are not fit for or pertinent to be considered by the legal system are filtered
out when intention to create legal relations is taken as a requirement for a contract, Since all
the agreements cannot be enforced by law or deserve to be considered by the courts. For
example, a promise made to a friend for a party is not a legal binding. The requirement of
Intention to create a legal binding factor for a valid contract distinguishes between domestic
and commercial contracts.

Agreements, which is offer followed by acceptance, devoid of intention to create a legal

relationship or binding are considered to be unenforceable. This can be understood by the fact
that when any contract has a legal binding, the performance and breach can rightfully be
claimed in the commission. Hence, legal relation makes the contract enforceable at law.

The Employment Contract act limited government's influence and hence interference, and
also gave more freedom to employers and employees. The Employment Act of New Zealand
states that the contract for the employment is a special binding within which all employees,
employers and the workers cater to a collective accountability of belief, justice and
confidence. This Contract, that is, the Employment Contract is far more different from the
simple contracts as it is very much connected to legal as well as ethical relativity. (e-
lawresource)

Binding Contract

A contract between two parties is said to be legally binding the parties when it is enforceable
by law and any breach of the terms means that the parties can rightfully claim for
commission's interference. This means that if any disputes arise between the parties for
whether the terms of the contract have been broken or whether there has been a breach of
contract, that decision is made by the courts and it is fully enforceable. In such cases of
breach of contract , dispute among the parties or one party's attempt to not follow the terms
of the contract; the law commission may impose penalties or punish the defaulter. (business
dictionary)

Basic elements of a binding contract:

 Accountableness by mutual concordance: Means both the parties must mutually decide ,
define and agree over the obligatory terms of the contract.

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 Certainty of the contractual terms: Means that the terms of contract must be clearly and
specifically defined so as in the cases of breach the court can take right decision by taking
into account the obligations.
 Reasonable consideration: Means that the value in exchange of one thing in any contract
must be reasonable and justifiable. It may be monetary or non-monetary , tangible or
intangible. Consideration may also be given to refrain one party from doing something.
 The Terms and Conditions: The terms and conditions must be clearly mentioned in the
contract so that in cases of the breach of contract the court can look into the obligatory as
well as other terms of the contract and take a decision in terms of punishment or penalty.
 Legality of contract: All the contracts must be lawfully acceptable and correct. They must
not violate any fundamental right or disrespect any constitutional term. For example, any
person, A pays 100$ to B in exchange of B killing C. This contract is an Illegitimate
contract.

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Ques2:

Deleting information from documents:

There exists a rule: The Privacy act 1993 in New Zealand that takes care of the any person's
individual privacy. However, the practical terms the act has been limited to privatising the
information of the citizens. This act was formulated keeping in mind the ease of access given
by advanced technological means to the personal information of any individual. In case of a
breach of the principles, the person can lodge a clamour with the legal commission. If the
complaint remains unresolved, it may further be directed to the Human Rights Review
Tribunal. In case the person wants the dome information from his/her documents to be
deleted, this is possible in following cases:

I. the information for which the request of deletion is made must be present in the
document.
II. there must be satisfying and adequate logic behind keeping back that information.
III. Rest of the information, which is not required to be hidden, must be kept as a copy
after the alterations and deletions.
IV. In cases where agencies have the data about any related individual and that can be
easily fetched, the individual can ask for deletion of some related information by
providing a good and fulfilling reason for the information to be withheld.
V. Such request if made must never counterfeit the public interests or rights. (New
Zealand Legislation)

Seeking of private information

The Police holds some accountable personal information about all the citizens of New
Zealand. The electronically held Information, Information on Files and the facts known but
not recorded about somebody form that personal information. However the police must
comply with the principles of The Privacy Act 1993 in keeping that information. When any
person requests for the information pertaining to him from the police, he is making a Privacy
Act Request. Since the act does not specify the mode in which this request must be made,
request can be made by either filling a form, that is, privacy request form or even through
letters and e-mails or orally. When in the procedure of such act, the details of all the dates of
request made and forwarded must be kept by the police. he privacy request form confirms the

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identity of the individual as there is a provision of requesters providing their identity proof
for the final submission of the form.

This privacy request cannot be made by any outsider. Only the citizen of New Zealand,
permanent Resident of New Zealand and any other person presently staying in New Zealand
can make the request. Any Australian or Indian who had once lived in New Zealand cannot
file the Privacy Request. In cases where some other individual like a lawyer requests for the
personal information of some other person, he must first get permitted by that person. The
respective person must first permit the Police to provide the information to the third party,
that is, the lawyer in this case. (htt1)

Privacy act for non-public sector agencies

Since The Privacy act 1993 has a set of principles which are to be followed by all the
businesses so that the personal space or privacy of any individual is not hampered or
disturbed. These principles if properly followed will ensure fair and just information practices
in a firm. , hence winning over the hearts of its employees. The Collection, Holding, usage,
disclosure and retrieval of such data is controlled by these justifiable and satisfying
principles. Every individual has the right to check and permit the extent to which information
pertaining to him can be used or disclosed. The private sector Agencies may have the private
data for a particular reason. The person whose information is being collected can rightfully
claim for the reason and for the surety of no further disclosures of his private information.
autonomy is what this act ensures for both employers and the employees as everyone is the
boss of his information. This act applies to both public sector firms and private sector
agencies but not to news-media and has many other limitations too. In fact, the privacy
commissions has been vested with powers to issue the codes of practice. In cases where
public interest and individual privacy are at same line, public interest and benefits is given a
priority. (Privacy Commissioner) .

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Ques3
Regulations for Health and safety in employment.(employment relations
act 2000)

This act ensures good relations of the employee with the employer by boosting up procedures
to safeguard and support the environment at work as well as the relationship with the
employer. The employer must ensure that the employee has a trust and confidence over the
organisation and his employer and this relationship is watered not only by implied obligations
but also by organisational legislation. There must be procedures to hammer away existing
inequalities and ensure employment standards by promotion the concepts like collective
bargaining. The employees come into Individual employment contracts when hired and have
Unions representing the employees in cases of grievances. Collective employment contracts
are also to ensure that employee rights are safeguarded as Collective employment contracts
promote collective bargaining with the employer. Union members are voluntary and cannot
be discriminated as such. In the cases with any personal dispute, grievance or other cause
arises , the employment contract act comes into action. Employment relations acts provides
regulations for: Discrimination, harassment, personal grievances, agreed hours of work,
unfair bargaining, Breastfeeding breaks for working mothers etc. These provisions tend to
advocate and ensure employee safety and health, in terms of work environment and personal
terms. Employee relations act also provides remedies in cases of breach to any of the above
mentioned conditions takes place. (New Zealand legislation)

Union's responsibility for employees and members of union (Employment

act of New Zealand 1992)

The collective interests and problems or any other matter of the employees in any
organisation are represented by the union. The union may have a different membership
clauses. The employee permits the union to be the representative of the other working
employees and their rights, if harmed. The union is held responsible for matters related to
rights and duties of its members, employees and the employer too. The basic function of the
union is to indulge in collective bargaining between the employer and the employees so as to
maintain an equilibrium between both of them and ensure harmony amongst the people in the
organisation. The functionality of union also covers the assurance of proper health and safety
requirements of the workers and union members; minimization of strikes and lockouts due to

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non-compliance over certain issues; ensuring that all the employment related acts, that is, all
applicable rules and regulations are properly followed and maintenance of balance between
employees' vs. employers proposed terms and conditions of work. All these activities are
carried out in compliance with all the union members which are representatives of the
organisational work force. (NEW ZEALAND LEGISLATION)

Legal Engagement of both employees and employers for workplace safety

(Employment act of New Zealand 1992)

In order to ensure health and safety at the workplace Legal engagement of the employees and
the employers is ensured by the Employment act of 1992. Under this act, health and safety
representatives are elected who may work independently or in teams or as the member of the
elected committee for ensuring health and safety at workplace. This act says that both the
employee as well as the employer must have their representatives and stirs the importance of
compliance of representatives of both the employer as well as the employees on particular
issues pertaining to health and safety provisions.

Some mandatory obligations for the health and safety representatives are:

Cultivation of such management practices which ensures a healthy and safe work
environment at the workplace, looking after the hazard-prone activities and draw the
employer's attention towards it, staying in touch with health and safety inspectors, taking care
of already harmed employees at work their rehabilitation and return to work. (New Zealand
Legislation)

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Ques4:

Holding confidential information of any employee

An employer can withhold any employees personal information only if the employee permits
him/her to do so. The best practice is to keep the system as transparent as possible, that is, the
employee must know the details. Maintaining the privacy of employees' personal information
is a responsibility that comes along for the employer. The Employer must ensure that the
terms of Privacy act section 3 and 4 are not hampered or violated in the procedure of use and
disclosure of the employees' information. Retention of information of any employee by the
employer is not time-bound. The employer may keep the information of any employee for as
long as required for a lawful purpose. In General, the information is kept till the time the
respective employee is enrolled in the organisation. That is, if the employee leaves the
organisation or shifts to some other organisation, the information must be safely destroyed or
returned to the employee. If in any case the employer wishes to keep the information, the
employee must be informed so that the terms of privacy act aren't disrupted.

So, clearly in this case the employer can keep the information only if the employee doesn't
have any objection for the same. (Privacy Commissioner)

Remedies

Under the Privacy Act 1993, employers must appoint a privacy officer to ensure that the
privacy principles are not disrespected and are properly followed; deals with the information
requests made under this law, staying in touch with the privacy commissioner and
maintaining the equilibrium over the terms of this law between the employee and the
employer.

In this case or in any other case, if any employee or individual feels that the terms relating to
his/her personal informative privacy have been violated, he/she can rightfully complain to
The privacy commission. In actions like accessing, correcting the information, where the
employee feels a breach has been done and the procedures aren't right; he/she may seek the
help of privacy commissioner. The privacy principles , the code of conduct shall never be
breached. However, all these problems are legally taken care off only when there has been a
loss, damage or injury or such a kind of loss to the employee. Along with this if rights,

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benefits, privileges, self respect, interests are harmed or humiliation, loss of dignity and
feelings are hurt this law is applicable. These remedies are lawfully put into action after keen
observation of the case by privacy officer, privacy commissioner and the privacy
commission. (FINDLAW)

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List of References
(n.d.). Retrieved from
https://fyi.org.nz/request/1748/response/6285/attach/6/millar%20gavin%20PrivacyGuidelines
%20IR%20system%20released%20under%20OIA.pdf
business dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from businessdictionary.com:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/binding-contract.html
e-lawresource. (n.d.). Retrieved from e-lawresource.co.uk: (http://e-
lawresources.co.uk/Intention-to-create-legal-relations.php)
FINDLAW. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.findlaw.co.nz/articles/4327/privacy-law-for-
employers-in-new-zealand.aspx
http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Intention-to-create-legal-relations.php. (n.d.).
New Zealand legislation. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2000/0024/latest/DLM1602758.html
New Zealand Legislation. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0028/latest/whole.html#DLM297035
New Zealand Legislation. (n.d.). Retrieved from
www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1992/0096/latest/DLM279952.html
NEW ZEALAND LEGISLATION. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2000/0024/latest/DLM58644.html
Privacy Commissioner. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.privacy.org.nz/news-and-
publications/speeches-and-presentations/privacy-laws-and-the-private-sector-a-new-zealand-
perspective/
Privacy Commissioner. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.privacy.org.nz/assets/Files/Brochures-and-pamphlets-and-pubs/Privacy-at-
Work-2008.pdf

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