At a glance

• Citation: [2026] NZERA 60
• Determination date: 5 February 2026
• Venue / hearing: Investigation meeting held 21-23 October 2025 in Hamilton (determination issued out of Auckland).
• Employee's role: General Manager of one of the employer's businesses based in Hamilton.
• Employer allegations: private work during work time using company staff/materials (boat and a family member's campervan and car), unauthorised ordering of goods on the employer's account, and alleged timesheet falsification.
• Outcome on dismissal: Unjustified dismissal (personal grievance upheld), primarily due to significant process defects.
• Key orders: Employer to pay $12,000 compensation (after a 20% contribution reduction). Employee to repay employer amounts calculated in Appendix A (with labour to be recalculated at hourly rates and some labour excluded), and the withheld final pay to be offset against the Appendix A totals.
• Lost wages: Not awarded (evidence too vague / not supported).
• Penalties: None ordered.
• Costs: Reserved (memorandum timetable set if not agreed).

• Significant process defects that were not minor: MTE stood Mr Spencer down before seeking his views and, at the first meeting where concerns were raised, he was not given an opportunity to respond. The Authority also criticised informal discussions between the decision-maker and staff about the allegations, which were not disclosed to Mr Spencer during the investigation. The Authority considered those discussions may have affected staff responses and created a risk of unfairness.
• Concerns of pre-determination: the decision-maker's evidence raised concern about whether he genuinely considered Mr Spencer's explanations prior to dismissal. That concern supported the conclusion that the process was not fair overall.
• Substantive justification was "open", but overall fairness still failed: the Authority accepted it was open to MTE, on the evidence, to conclude the boat and campervan work was private work carried out without written permission, on company time, using company property and employees, and that the conduct could be treated as serious misconduct. However, under the overall assessment required by s 103A, the non-minor procedural defects still rendered the dismissal unjustified.
• Lost wages were not proved: Mr Spencer referred to a shortfall between his MTE earnings and later employment for several months, but the evidence was too vague and unsupported for the Authority to quantify reimbursement.
• Compensation was awarded, but reduced for contribution: the Authority assessed $15,000 as appropriate for the impact of the dismissal, then reduced remedies by 20% (because Mr Spencer was, in important respects, "the architect of his own misfortune"), resulting in $12,000 payable.

Personal grievance remedies (employee)

• Compensation (hurt and humiliation): $12,000.00 (after 20% contribution reduction).
• Lost wages reimbursement: not awarded (insufficient evidence to quantify).

Final pay withholding

• MTE withheld final pay relying on a contractual deduction clause. The Authority directed that the amount withheld must be deducted from the final calculations in Appendix A.

Employer damages claim (employee to repay employer)

The Authority ordered Mr Spencer to pay MTE amounts calculated under Appendix A, with specific adjustments:

• Boat: workshop consumables ($1,196.22) and parts ($2,335.31), plus labour to be recalculated at hourly rates.
• Campervan: workshop consumables ($2,652.82), plus labour to be recalculated at hourly rates. Labour attributed to two anonymised workers (Worker G and Worker J) was to be excluded due to lack of corroborating evidence.
• Speakers dispute: a disputed boat part amount of $266.80 was still found payable (cost incurred without authority), even though it had not been installed.
• Family member's car: $2,300 (GST inclusive) was allowed.
• Timesheets allegation: the claim for alleged overpayment based on "falsified" timesheets was dismissed due to insufficient evidence and inability to make a clear finding on the disputed arrangement.