Ten recurring arguments and procedural problems seen in Employment Relations Authority investigations, and why they should carry little weight.
Industry news, practical commentary, and real-world employment law lessons from the coalface in New Zealand. Short updates, longer opinion pieces, and anonymised stories that highlight what goes wrong (and how to avoid it).
Updates, commentary, and practical lessons from the coalface. This is where I publish industry news, my opinion on employment law issues, and real-world stories (some anonymised, some not) that show how disputes start, how they escalate, and how they can be resolved.
Some articles in this section are short and timely. Others are longer opinion pieces or breakdowns of common failure points I see in practice. If you are looking for structured guides and explainer articles, browse the main articles and topics as well.
Employment disputes are rarely about one single event. They usually build from poor process, poor communication, missing documentation, or decisions that get locked in too early. I use this section to call out patterns I see repeatedly, and to explain the practical reality of what happens in MBIE mediation, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), and sometimes the Employment Court.
If you are in a live dispute, treat deadlines and evidence seriously from day one. For employees, that may include the time limits for raising a Personal Grievance (PG). For employers, that means avoiding rushed responses and preserving the record before memories fade or systems overwrite.
Ten recurring arguments and procedural problems seen in Employment Relations Authority investigations, and why they should carry little weight.
Serious misconduct is not just a label. Post-21 Feb 2026 it can zero out remedies. Here is a practical advocate framework to classify conduct as serious misconduct (or not) and to run the right process arguments.
The 2026 amendments can strip out compensation, reinstatement, or even all remedies once an employee is found to have contributed to the situation. If the Employment Court treated trial periods strictly because they remove protections, expect the same disciplined approach to these new contribution gatekeepers.
A practical guide to the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 (assented 20 Feb 2026, in force 21 Feb 2026): contractor gateway test, new $200k remuneration threshold, changes to s 103A, stronger contribution and serious misconduct remedy limits, and 30-day collective agreement changes.
A practical warning about section 149 settlement agreements: if mediator sign-off is a condition of the settlement, the clauses need to align. This anonymised example explains an internal drafting conflict that later required submissions in the ERA.
Why businesses should not offer prizes, discounts or other benefits for Google reviews, what Google's fake-engagement rules say, and when incentivised reviews can create Fair Trading Act risk in New Zealand.
Sacked Kiwi sent a cease and desist to Win Kiwi Limited alleging "Fired Kiwi" infringes their trade mark. Win Kiwi Limited sets out what was asserted, what was requested, its response, and the IPONZ Trade Marks Register context showing both parties have registered marks.
Shine Lawyers filed an IPONZ revocation for non-use against No Win No Fee Kiwi Limited's trade mark "No Win No Fee Kiwi". They wanted to register "No Win, No Fee No Nonsense". No Win No Fee Kiwi Limited filed a counterstatement and evidence. Shine Lawyers then withdrew.