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.
A concise, practical guide to workplace investigations in New Zealand, grounded in the Employment Relations Act 2000, the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and key case law on what the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court regard as a full and fair process.
Bullying at work is usually repeated, unreasonable behaviour that creates a risk to health and safety. Here is what to document, how to raise it, and what legal options can apply.
Serious misconduct is not just a label. Post-21 Feb 2026 it can zero out remedies. Here is a practical advocate framework to classify conduct as serious misconduct (or not) and to run the right process arguments.
The 2026 amendments can strip out compensation, reinstatement, or even all remedies once an employee is found to have contributed to the situation. If the Employment Court treated trial periods strictly because they remove protections, expect the same disciplined approach to these new contribution gatekeepers.
A practical guide to the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 (assented 20 Feb 2026, in force 21 Feb 2026): contractor gateway test, new $200k remuneration threshold, changes to s 103A, stronger contribution and serious misconduct remedy limits, and 30-day collective agreement changes.
A short practical warning about section 149 settlement agreements: if the mediator sign-off is mandatory, the clauses must actually align. In this YouTube Short I anonymise the parties and focus on the s 149 process and a clause conflict that turned into a firefight at the ERA.
ERA trial period case where an unexpected cellphone incident ("Masturbation!") at the investigation meeting collided with a serious legal issue: whether the Authority dealt with the argument that the 90-day trial notice was invalid under s 67B(1).
Concerns about a prize draw incentive linked to Google reviews, and why incentivized reviews can breach Google's policy and mislead consumers in New Zealand.
