Nine recurring arguments and tactics we see 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 article 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.
Nine recurring arguments and tactics we see 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 short practical warning about section 149 settlement agreements: if the mediator sign-off is mandatory, the clauses must actually align. In this YouTube Short I anonymise the parties and focus on the s 149 process and a clause conflict that turned into a firefight at the ERA.
ERA trial period case where an unexpected cellphone incident ("Masturbation!") at the investigation meeting collided with a serious legal issue: whether the Authority dealt with the argument that the 90-day trial notice was invalid under s 67B(1).
Concerns about a prize draw incentive linked to Google reviews, and why incentivized reviews can breach Google's policy and mislead consumers in New Zealand.
Public court list information confirms an Employment Court judicial review hearing in Menzies v Employment Relations Authority and Another on 10 February 2026.