We represent employers and employees in employment disputes in New Zealand. All employees have rights under the Employment Relations Act 2000. This blog discusses common and relevant issues in New Zealand employment law.
![The Estate of Samuel Keast v Playground Centre Limited [2026] NZERA 136 - preliminary decision: estate could not raise a new personal grievance after death; Australian entity was employer at the time; ERA lacked jurisdiction](/Images/site/EmploymentAdvocatesAucklandCard.jpg)
Preliminary determination. The estate of a deceased employee sought to bring a personal grievance (including constructive dismissal) against a New Zealand company after he died at work in Melbourne. The Authority held the NZ employment had ended before the move to Australia, a separate...
Outcome: see the Authority's findings and orders in the embedded determination. At the material time, the first respondent, Dong Construction Limited (Dong Construction), was an Accredited Employer under Immigration New Zealand's (INZ's) Accredited Employer Work Visa Sc...
A Rotorua kebab restaurant recruited a kitchen hand from India on an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). The ERA found the employer (through a director) sought a $34,000 premium to secure the job, breaching s 12A Wages Protection Act, and imposed a $16,000 penalty. The employee was later...
The Authority made monetary and/or other orders. Nicholas Fry was first employed by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) from 24 January 1986 until 17 November 2014. Mr Fry returned to FENZ in March 2022 as an Advisor Community Readiness ... Orders include compensation of $13,000.
Anztec made a senior assembly technician redundant in a small-business restructure. The ERA accepted the redundancy was genuine and the dismissal was substantively justified, but found significant good faith/consultation defects - including failure to proactively disclose information.
A retail assistant was dismissed during a probation period after the employer said CCTV and KPI reports showed targets were not met. The ERA found the employer had not provided adequate POS and legal process training, yet relied on KPI results, and then terminated employment out of the blue by...
A senior journalist/editor with 18 years at Radio Waatea was made redundant after a restructure merging English and Maori newsroom functions. The ERA accepted the restructure had genuine business reasons, but held the redundancy dismissal unjustified because key proposal information was not fairly shared, the employee was not clearly told his role was at risk until the termination day, and redeployment options were not consulted on. Orders: $24,230.77 lost wages (plus interest and KiwiSaver), $19,000 compensation, and a $1,500 Wages Protection Act penalty (half to the employee).
The Authority made monetary and/or other orders. On 5 February 2024, Robert Tunnicliffe interviewed for a job as a Truck Driver with Solly's Freight (1978) Limited (Solly's). Solly's offered Mr Tunnicliffe the job, which he accepted and co... Orders include compensation of $5,000.
