Everest Corporation told automotive technician Layth Abu-Laban that his employment would end because an alleged one-year contract would not be renewed. His agreement was actually permanent, and the employer later relied on allegations of poor workmanship, customer solicitation, misuse of property and theft.
Search Employment Law
Search New Zealand employment-law guides, ERA determinations, Employment Court decisions and topics.
Search tips
- Use quotes for exact phrases, eg "unfair dismissal".
- Use +word to require, -word to exclude, eg +redundancy -trial.
- Use OR to broaden, eg dismissal OR redundancy.
Results for poor performance
Facing a disciplinary meeting or misconduct allegation? The employer should investigate properly, identify the allegations and evidence, give a genuine opportunity to respond, and keep an open mind before deciding on a warning or dismissal.
Employer employment law help for Personal Grievance responses, disciplinary process, redundancy, MBIE mediation, ERA claims, settlement strategy and Employment Court risk.
Jia Jia began work for TBS Trading without a written employment agreement, experienced late wage payments and then found the employer stopped communicating and providing work. The case concerned whether that silence and withdrawal of work amounted to dismissal as well as separate pay and documentation breaches.
Traffica summarily dismissed foreman Selwyn McDonald on site after a heated exchange with a director. The ERA accepted that Mr McDonald made serious disrespectful comments with racial connotations, but he was given no chance to answer before being fired.
Leo Waters was made redundant by STL Linehaul in a process he said lacked genuine consultation and a fair opportunity to influence the decision. The ERA examined both the employer's business rationale and whether the redundancy procedure met the good-faith and justification standards.
LUO v BAZ [2026] NZERA 549 - genuine redundancy undone by inadequate consultation and redeployment
CaseBAZ 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.
A critique of the Employers and Manufacturers Association case for new regulation of employment advocates, focusing on whether the publicly identified evidence demonstrates widespread advocate-specific consumer harm.
