Auckland bus drivers turned their backs on a $500 sweetener from the region's public transport agency when they rejected a new pay offer.

An 11.5pc pay rise over three years, which was rejected by NZ Bus drivers and cleaners today, was recommended by its unions as "the best deal we could get".

A high-flying NZ banking exec says she was hounded out of her $250,000 pounds ($578,000) a year job in London by sexist Japanese bosses.

Drivers and cleaners will decide between 9.30am and 2pm tomorrow whether to accept NZ Bus's pay offer.

Heading to the courts is not always the best solution in industrial disputes, says employment lawyer Ross Crotty.

The unions will recommend that bus drivers and cleaners accept a pay-rise offer when they meet next Wednesday.

Most workplaces seem ill-prepared to accommodate the new law change which would allow managers to exercise more control over workers' regular breaks.

Cellphone use may not affect drivers' insurance claims in the case of an accident, but employers are taking a hard line.

The Govt has introduced a law change that will allow bosses to withhold workers' regular breaks, and instead pay for the time or trade the breaks.

The number of employees planning to change jobs is rising, a sure sign that the economic downturn seems to have passed.