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Results for unpaid wages
![Xuefeng Yang v ERA Home Limited [2026] NZERA 695 - migrant worker was an employee despite employer denying relationship](/Images/site/EmploymentAdvocatesAucklandCard.jpg)
ERA Home denied that Xuefeng Yang had ever become its employee, despite a signed employment agreement, an approved work visa and evidence that he worked at its construction site. The ERA found an employment relationship existed, upheld unjustified dismissal and disadvantage claims, awarded $23,000 compensation and $8,008.20 lost wages plus holiday pay, and imposed a $3,000 penalty on the company.
Mr Kalkat was placed in work through Easy Recruitment and later told the placement employer considered his performance inadequate. He alleged that his employment had been ended without a fair process and sought compensation and lost wages for unjustified dismissal.
Evidence checklist for an unjustified-dismissal or personal-grievance case: agreements, letters, texts, meeting records, rosters, pay evidence, medical material, job-search records and a reliable chronology.
Stuff had genuine commercial reasons to restructure, but it failed to properly establish that Andrew McFarlane's existing role was surplus before making him compete for a substantially similar role. The ERA found the dismissal unjustified, criticised the contestable selection and redeployment process, and awarded $25,000 compensation plus $30,840.98 gross lost remuneration and holiday pay.
Cooper No 1 sold its business and told Ms Piacun her employment was ending, without paying a notice period. The ERA considered whether the sale itself ended employment or whether Cooper had taken the initiative to terminate her contract.
A practical guide to an Employment Relations Authority investigation: filing, case management, witness statements, evidence, the investigation meeting, remedies, costs and preparation.
VLN brought claims about employment status and minimum employment standards arising from work at properties associated with Elizabeth and Kim Dotcom. With possible extradition affecting witness availability and enforcement, VLN sought urgent removal of the whole proceeding from the ERA to the Employment Court before the Authority investigation occurred.
Limei Wang was made redundant by Serenity Float Clinic while the business was in serious financial difficulty. The issue was not whether insolvency pressures were real, but whether those pressures excused the employer from consulting with her before deciding that her employment would end.
