We hope that you and your families are safe and well after the early wakeup call on Saturday morning, with Christchurch's earthquake.

It was certainly very traumatic, and driving around the streets of Christchurch it was evident there was a lot of damage, with emergency services stretched.

We have this morning spoken to our loss adjuster and insurer partners in respect of the claims process in handling damage that may have been incurred. Initial estimates suggest that this event may result in 20,000 claims with some of a very significant nature.

The loss adjusters have advised that they are unlikely to be able to respond to people today, as there is a continued risk to people's safety with aftershocks continuing.

Did you know that The Chip Group offers free online training.  The training is simple and fast.  It is a series of 'modules' based on the Industry Standards.  There are nine modules.

Each module takes around 10 minutes to complete and you can do them at whatever pace you like - all at once or one at a time.

For more information visit The Chip Group website www.thechipgroup.co.nz

Please find below Parliament's Digests which are summaries of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill and Holidays Amendment Bill which have both passed their first readings and been sent to Select Committees.