The SME Stream

A Christchurch mother is calling for changes to bereavement leave laws.
Sheena Hemens’ 27-year-old daughter Lauren was killed in a car accident nearly three years ago.
Hemens says grief kept her from working for months, but currently, the law only provides three days of leave.
She’s launched a petition to increase minimum bereavement leave to 10 days, saying many people don’t realise how little time they get.
Sheena joined John MacDonald to discuss her petition.
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A Christchurch mother says current bereavement leave rules don’t give families enough time to grieve.
Sheena Hemens has launched a petition to increase the minimum entitlement from three days to ten, after her 27-year-old daughter Lauren was killed in a car crash nearly three years ago.
She says most people don't realise how little time you get to grieve until tragedy strikes, and the allowance feels like an insult.
Hemens told Francesca Rudkin that if you need more than three days, the only options currently are to use annual or sick leave, or to take unpaid leave.
Taking unpaid leave is not a fiscal option for many, she says, and it means that at the worst time of someone’s life, they’re being asked to be under financial pressure.
“That seems, just inhuman.”
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New data shows how unstable the construction sector is right now, with building activity dropping to a 10-year low.
Infometrics says building activity fell 3.5% in the March quarter.
The value of non-residential work in the South Island rose more than 8% as Wellington and Auckland recorded significant drops.
Combined Building Supplies Co-Op CEO Carl Taylor told Heather du Plessis-Allan consents can tell them what may happen in the future – but only if people spend money.
He says it's tough out there, particularly in Auckland, but Canterbury seems insulated from issues.
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As business owners, you know how hard it is keeping up with your business, let alone the news. Join Wilhelmina O'Keeffe each week as she gives you a rundown of the biggest stories that could impact your business, so you can make informed decisions with expert advice.

This week, More uncertainty for exports to the US as another potential tariff looms, Kiwis are catching up on their debt despite the cost of living crisis… and why our luxury tourism market is in hot demand.
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In episode 63 of the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, our guest is the Founder of Orion Health, Ian McCrae.
He is regarded by many as one of the early “heroes” of the New Zealand tech sector, but Ian McCrae refers to himself as simply a passionate engineering entrepreneur, and he remains committed to his mission to leverage technology in order to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare for every person.
After an undistinguished high school education, he found his way at Auckland University where he graduated with an engineering degree and a Masters. Along the way he took a break to hitchhike around the world, a journey that saw him in London during the sharemarket crash and in Iran during the revolution, a period which enhanced his already substantial levels of resilience.
Back in New Zealand, his Masters thesis led him to Antarctica where he modelled the ice shelf flows long before it was cool to do so. A series of jobs in the tech space led him to decide that the health sector was where the opportunity was and Orion Health was born.
Ian’s story of establishing a global business, on limited funding and heavily reliant on suitcases and shoe leather, has plenty of lessons for every aspiring entrepreneur.
During the Leaders Getting Coffee Podcast, he speaks with Bruce Cotterill about his combination of sales skills and software knowledge creating a critical combination enabling his success. There’s plenty of chat about the early days of cracking the US market and the ups and downs that followed.
Five years ago, his life was upended with the diagnosis of a brain tumour. And as you might expect from a technology leader with a passion for healthcare, he has piloted his treatment programme via his own software and the AI tools that we all have access to. The result has seen him outlive his original diagnosis four-fold and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
He’s also outspoken about what those same AI tools should mean for the health system, and he sees opportunities to overtake our unaffordable current approach to healthcare and move directly to a new way, one which sees the patient at the centre of their own care and AI providing the interface between the system and the needs of the population.
This is the opportunity to hear from a man who is a massively successful New Zealand entrepreneur. But that man is also patient in our health system, one with strong and well qualified opinions on the future direction of one of our government’s biggest challenges.
Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 63 with Bruce Cotterill and Ian McCrae, Founder of Orion Health and Brain Tumour patient.
Download it here.
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