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What workplace bullying means in New Zealand, the difference between repeated unreasonable behaviour and ordinary conflict or performance management, and the evidence and legal options available to an affected employee.

DQJ challenged an ERA decision refusing interim reinstatement after Inland Revenue ended her employment. The Employment Court had to decide whether preserving the employment relationship pending the substantive grievance was justified without deciding the ultimate merits.

Emma Baldwin returned to RJ Hospitality after parental leave to a dispute over rostered hours that had previously operated on a stable and regular basis. She challenged unilateral changes to that pattern and later claimed the breakdown of the relationship also amounted to dismissal.

What an employer should do after receiving a personal grievance: do not concede or retaliate, preserve records, identify the legal claims and deadlines, and assess whether mediation or a defended response is appropriate.

Sophie Kennett resigned from Polygon GY Developments after a course of conduct she said was designed to force her out, in a context also involving a claimed redundancy and unpaid Holidays Act entitlements. The ERA examined the reality of the resignation rather than only its formal label.

Rachel Hankins was employed by Huhtamaki Henderson on a fixed-term arrangement. Although the ERA accepted there was a valid basis for the fixed term itself, her employment was ended before the agreed expiry and the employer had to justify that early termination separately.

Angus Jowitt worked in a music shop under a disputed contractor-or-employee arrangement and was paid cash below the rate the employer accepted had been agreed. After a conflict over work and coffee, the employer later relied on resignation rather than dismissal.