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What the New Zealand Employment Court does, how a de novo challenge differs from an ERA investigation, key procedural stages and what parties should expect when preparing for a hearing.

The steps that commonly occur before and after an ERA application is filed, including raising the problem, mediation, statements of problem and reply, directions, evidence and preparation for the investigation meeting.

Employment-law lessons from misconduct at Christmas parties and other work functions, including alcohol, off-duty conduct, investigations and when discipline or dismissal may be justified.

Big B Cartage dismissed truck driver David Turner for serious misconduct after a seven-minute meeting without identifying the allegations or disclosing the text message relied on. The ERA found the dismissal unjustified and awarded $9,750 compensation after a 25 percent contribution reduction.

BAZ had genuine commercial reasons to make Luo's role redundant, but the employee was not given a fair opportunity to engage with the proposal or meaningful redeployment possibilities before the decision was made.

Hamilton Zoo's former senior manager subjected zookeeper Ashleigh Sanders to intrusive personal contact, out-of-hours messages, requests for information about colleagues, favouritism and career-related pressure. She later resigned, long after that manager had left.

Sidney Yu and Jing Tham were engaged by Queenstown Nursery for temporary plant work and were later selected to stop working, with the employer relying on weather and alleged comparative inefficiency. The case concerned whether the casual or short-assignment characterisation justified ending their work without a fair process.

Neil Hall was made redundant from Consultex's Northland asbestos and mould work after a downturn that gave the employer a genuine reason to reduce headcount. The dispute centred on whether Consultex complied with its good-faith information and consultation obligations before choosing and implementing the redundancy.