Employment Law

A true mediation story (details changed) about settlement capacity, cannabis, and why you should only sign when clear-headed.

Employment Court of New Zealand explained in plain English: what it does, how it differs from the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), what a challenge is, key timeframes, and practical preparation tips - including what happens during a hearing.

Mr Menzies lost company limited liability protection over grievance remedies in the ERA. We appealed to the Employment Court, but discontinued when it became futile. Catherine Stewart Barrister team repeatedly made veiled threats to seek a jail sentence against Mr Menzies in event of non-payment. Fresh evidence that was subsequently collected from behind a non-publication order has led to a judicial review, which is currently underway.

There is no case for new regulation of employment advocates. The report, Regulating Lawyers in Aotearoa New Zealand did not identify widespread consumer harm justifying new regulation of non-lawyer legal service providers. MBIE should not create licensing, registration, compulsory membership, a statutory code, a new regulator, or a new complaints body without independent evidence of widespread advocate-specific harm.

Joyce v Ultimate Siteworks Limited [2024] NZEmpC 204 - Advocate and Lawyer Conduct. Breaching our client's privacy, using a complaint as a bargaining chip, pressuring us to discontinue representation and a SLAPP.

Parties can agree that an advocate is paid directly by the employer in terms of an s 149 record of settlement. "Payment" excludes legal or advocacy services where such service is a separate term of the settlement and a GST invoice for a defined sum is provided to the other party.

The Federated Farmers Employment Contract is commonly used by farmer employers. We represent employers in employment disputes where problems arise with these contracts. The correct preparation and execution of the Federated Farmers Employment Agreement is important for the farmer employers that use them.

There are a lot of employers who think that "No Win, No Fee" is an arrangement available to their business in defending a personal grievance or other claims.