PARENTAL LEAVE FOR SELF-EMPLOYED
PERSONS
The Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 gives entitlements
to parental leave, including some paid parental leave, for male and female
employees. Subsequent amendments to the Act mean that self- employed
persons can also apply for paid parental leave.
The Act defines a self-employed person as someone who is working in one
or more of the following, other than as an employee:
- providing goods or services for hire or reward under a contract for
services
- carrying on a business (including a profession, trade, manufacture or
undetaking carried on for pecuniary profit), including in partnership with
another person
- working for a trust in a business carried on by the trust.
To be eligible for parental leave payments, self-employed persons must:
- meet the definition of a self-employed person under the Act
- be pregnant or assuming care of a child with a view to adopt
- have been self-employed for at least an average of 10 or more hours a
week over the immediately preceding six or 12 months
- be taking parental leave from self-employment to care for the child.
To apply for parental leave payments the self-employed person will need to
fill in the IRD form IR888. The application must be
accompanied by either:
- a statement and declaration by a Chartered Accountant, or
- a self-declaration witnessed by a Justice of the Peace, solicitor or
other person authorised to take a statutory declaration in accordance with
the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957.
For eligible self-employed persons, parental leave payments are equivalent
to their average weekly income up to the rate of maximim entitlement. The
maximum entitlement is adjusted each year by any percentage in average weekly
earnings. As at 1 July 2007 the minimum amount of parental leave
payable to an eligible self employed person is $112.50, and the maximum
entitlement is $391.28.
COMMON FRAUDS
These are common forms of fraud that affect New Zealanders.
Advance Fee Fraud
In an advance fee fraud the victim pays money up front in return for
goods and/or services which the fraudster never supplies. The money paid in
advance is lost. The most common version of advance fee fraud is the
Nigerian-type letter which continues to plague New Zealanders in the post
and by email. These are best deleted and ignored.
See also advance
fee fraud warning by the Serious Fraud Office.
Prime Bank Instrument Fraud
Prime bank instrument is a form of advance fee fraud. People are
invited to take part in a secret market which is supposedly the domain of
elite banks. People are offered instruments such as “prime bank notes”
or “prime bank debentures” which they are told will bring very high
returns. This market does not exist. Money sent to these schemes is lost.
See also Prime
bank instruments and a Serious Fraud Office warning about prime
bank instruments.
Affinity Fraud
Affinity fraudsters prey on people who trust each other, particularly
members of religious, social, or cultural groups. They use the trust that
exists within these groups to help steal money.
See more about affinity and other fraud in the How to Spot a Scam
brochure at investor
information and also how
to avoid investment scams that target groups .
Ponzi Schemes
These are schemes where money from new investors is used to pay
"interest" to earlier investors to give the illusion that the
investment is successful. See more in How to Spot a Scam at investor
information and also at www.sec.gov/answers/ponzi.htm
See more in How
to Spot a Scam at investor information, Ponzi
scams on the internet and also at www.sec.gov/answers/ponzi.htm.
Internet Fraud
Fraudsters are increasingly using the internet to dupe victims out of
their money. For information on how to avoid internet scams see www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/cyberfraud.htm
For more information in how to avoid internet scams see Ponzi
scams on the internet and fake
websites.
TELEPHONE SHARE SCAMS
Click here for:
List
of overseas firms that have called New Zealanders
New Zealanders have lost many millions of dollars to people from
overseas who ring them up offering bogus share deals.
These callers are clever and persuasive. They make offers that are
hard to resist. They target people throughout the country, particularly
small business owners.
Many people have fallen victim to telephone offers of bogus share
deals. In a good many cases no shares are bought at all. If shares are
bought they turn out to be worthless and can't be sold.
Later people are often called again, this time by an apparently new
"broker" who says he has a buyer for their shares. Again the
message is very convincing, and many people send more money to pay for the
new transaction. This money too is lost
What to Do with Unsolicited
Telephone Calls offering Shares
Do not send any money. It is always unwise to send money to someone
overseas who you know only from an unsolicited telephone call. Money sent
overseas to these firms will probably never be recovered
Hang up on the caller. Don't try to engage with the caller. They will
use all their skill to persuade you to part with your money.
If you want to buy shares in overseas companies - contact a New
Zealand broker who is responsible under New Zealand law
Overseas Firms that have called New
Zealanders
Since August 2000 the NZ Securities Commission have published the names
of firms who have targeted people in New Zealand. These
callers do not hold a New Zealand broker's licence or futures dealer
authorisation and do not comply with New Zealand law.
They have not provided evidence to the Commission that they are
registered in their home jurisdiction to undertake this type of securities
business.
This list is not exhaustive. If you are cold called from a firm
that is not on the list it does not mean it is genuine. It is always
unwise to send money overseas to someone who you know only from an
unsolicited telephone call. These firms also refer to fake agencies
with official-sounding
names to prove that they are genuine.
The brokers who have come to the Commission's notice are:
See the list of firms
and official-sounding
agencies.
See also www.sharescams.org.nz
