Business Law Library & Tracker
Dismissal, Redundancy & Grievances
Performance, misconduct, redundancy, termination and employee complaints.
Sources last reviewed 28 July 2026
Main law guides
157
Acts, regulations and codes worth reading first
Topics
60
Plain-English clusters
Published case explainers
96
Selected cases with a business lesson
Tracked updates
8
New, amended & reviewed
Plain-English explainers, not legal advice. Use the linked official source for section-level detail, and get advice for your situation.
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Cases
Chen v Wei
Company directors must ensure their businesses comply with employment standards, including paying employees their full entitlements. If a company cannot meet its...
Edgecumbe Supermarket v Petersen
Employers must ensure that employment agreements are clear, that they follow proper procedures when addressing employee concerns or disciplinary matters, and that...
Faitala and Vea v The Pacific Island Business Development Trust
Employers must ensure that redundancy processes are genuine, transparent, and in compliance with employment agreements and good faith obligations. Employees have...
Halse & Anor v Hamilton City Council
If your business settles an employment dispute through MBIE mediation, do not treat the record of settlement as a one-off document that fades away with time. In...
Healey v Health New Zealand
The practical lesson is procedural. An employee does not need to say "I am raising a personal grievance" for a grievance to be raised. If their communications,...
Insight New Zealand 2007 Ltd v Johnstone
For business owners, the main lesson is not that safety expectations are unimportant. It is that serious allegations need clear rules, a fair investigation and a...
LMN v STC
LMN v STC shows that New Zealand employers must get consent before contacting employee references and must process sick leave correctly when medical certificates...
National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges Nga Whare Whakaruruhau O Aotearoa v Love & Crestani
For ordinary employers, the lasting lesson is about responsibility. Even where another organisation funds you, audits you, sets standards, requires reporting, or...
Singh v McKee
Employers must ensure redundancy processes are thorough, fair, and well-documented to avoid findings of unjustified dismissal. When dismissals are challenged,...
Allied Investments Ltd v Jones
Employers must ensure that any changes to employment terms, such as commission structures, are clearly communicated and agreed upon with employees. Failure to do so...
Bread of Life Christian Church in Auckland v Chen
Bread of Life Christian Church in Auckland v Chen confirms that employment law applies to religious and charitable organisations when they employ staff. The courts...
DBM Medical Ltd v Gaarkeuken
Employers should handle performance management carefully, ensuring that any concerns are communicated clearly and fairly. If an employee resigns, it is crucial to...
IDEA Services Ltd v Wills
Employers must not assume that a government mandate alone justifies skipping proper dismissal procedures. Even in urgent or challenging circumstances, you must...
Lyttelton Port Company Limited v Maritime Union of New Zealand
Employers should ensure any health monitoring policy is consistent with the terms of collective agreements and statutory obligations. Policies that go beyond agreed...
The Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki - Ministry for Children v Hill
Employers operating in high-risk environments, such as youth justice facilities, must ensure that their staff are well-trained in the use of force and understand...
Tighe-Umbers v Jetconnect Limited
Employers must not rush to dismiss staff who cannot comply with health orders. Instead, they should carefully consider all reasonable alternatives, including leave...
Tillmans Fine Furniture Ltd v Rookes
Employers must be careful when offering fixed-term contracts, especially after dismissing an employee from a permanent role. The Court found that Tillmans Fine...
Westgate Town Centre Limited (In Liquidation) v Westgate Properties Limited
If an outcome is commercially critical, put it into the contract in clear operational terms. Do not assume a shared project vision, planning framework or agreed...
Xu v Pioneer Education and Immigration Services Group Ltd
Employers must be careful when dismissing staff, especially where the dismissal is found to be unjustified. Compensation for lost earnings, emotional harm, and...
Yang v Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand
Employers must be transparent and fair when addressing performance concerns, especially in regulated environments. If an employee is placed on a supported training...
Young v Port of Tauranga Ltd
Employers must comply with government vaccination orders and apply them fairly to affected roles. If an employee claims an exemption, the employer should check its...
Youtap Ltd v Johnston
The Court's decision underscores that the true employer is determined by mutual intention and actual control, not just contractual arrangements. Businesses...
Carrington Jade LP v Grant
Employers must ensure they correctly classify workers as casual or permanent employees, comply with holiday pay obligations, and follow fair dismissal procedures....
E Tū Inc v Singh
Employers and unions must ensure that disciplinary processes are conducted fairly, with clear reasons for dismissal and a genuine opportunity for employees to...
Ford v Henry Brown and Co Ltd
Ford v Henry Brown and Co Ltd is a reminder that employers must be proactive and transparent during recruitment and dismissal. If you do not ask direct questions...
Glenfield College BOT & Ors v Anderson
This case underscores that employers must handle reductions in employee hours with care. Even if a collective agreement contains provisions about hours, unilateral...
Hu v Passion Fresh Ltd
Employers and host businesses must understand their roles and obligations when engaging labour hire workers. Employees must raise personal grievances directly with...
Keighran v Kensington Tavern Ltd
Employers must consult with staff before making significant changes to their roles or hours, especially when those changes are prompted by workplace disputes or...
Preece v Synlait Milk Ltd
Employers should ensure that workplace policies, such as vaccination requirements, are implemented with proper consultation and communication. Employees must have...
Television New Zealand Ltd v E Tū Incorporated
Employers must carefully follow the consultation and participation requirements in their collective agreements, especially when making significant changes such as...
Appleton v Tasman Cargo Airlines Pty Ltd
Employers must ensure that disciplinary investigations are conducted fairly and in line with both internal procedures and industry standards. In safety-critical...
Birthing Centre Ltd v Matsas
Employers must carefully follow employment law requirements when making decisions that affect employees' jobs, such as redundancies or closures. This includes...
Henderson Travels Ltd v Kaur
Employers must ensure redundancies are based on legitimate business needs and not used as a pretext for other actions, such as pressuring employees for personal...
Henry v South Waikato Achievement Trust
Employers should avoid rushing disciplinary actions and not rely on minor procedural defects to justify dismissals. The Court requires substantive fairness and...
MGK Homes Ltd v Yoon
Employers must be careful when ending an employment relationship, especially with migrant workers. If an employee is dismissed without proper process or...
Nelmac Ltd v Reunited Employees Assoc Inc
The Employment Court confirmed that both employers and unions must uphold the duty of good faith during collective bargaining. If negotiations become antagonistic...
New Zealand Steel Ltd v Haddad
New Zealand Steel Ltd v Haddad shows that employers must not only follow the steps of a redundancy process, but also act fairly and reasonably throughout....
Pact Group v Robinson
Employers must ensure that disciplinary actions are based on clear and substantiated grounds, and that processes are conducted fairly and transparently. Failure to...
Pact Group v Sheridan
The Employment Court confirmed that when a collective agreement requires 'two weeks' written notice', the notice period starts the day after the notice is given....
Pyne v Invacare New Zealand Ltd
Employers should base redundancy decisions on genuine operational needs and adhere to employment agreements. Failing to explore alternative employment options or...
Turner v Te Whatu Ora
Employers can justify dismissal for serious misconduct arising from social media posts if those posts damage the organisation’s reputation or breach codes of...
Wilson-Grange Investments v Guerra
This case shows that small businesses cannot unilaterally reduce staff hours or wages, even in tough times like pandemic lockdowns. Employment agreements must be...
Yan v Mainzeal Property and Construction Ltd (in liquidation)
Directors of a group company need evidence that promised support is real, sufficient and available when required. Comfort from a shareholder or related company is...
Farrand Orchards Ltd v Tane
Employers must ensure that any 90-day trial period is clearly discussed, agreed, and included in a signed employment agreement before the employee starts work....
Gill Pizza Ltd v A Labour Inspector
Calling workers contractors does not prevent a Labour Inspector from testing their status in an enforcement claim. Franchisees and other small businesses using...
Riki Scott Steen Walls v Ulsterman Holdings Limited (In Liquidation)
The practical lesson is direct. If you are served with court proceedings, especially by liquidators, do not wait for a second warning. In this case, the defendant...
Affco New Zealand Limited v New Zealand Meat Workers and Related Trades Union Inc and Others
If your business relies on returning seasonal staff, do not assume the off-season gives you a clean slate to reset employment terms. This case shows that where...
Anna Elizabeth Osborne and Sonya Lynne Rockhouse v Worksafe New Zealand
Keep two tracks separate after a serious workplace event. One track is victim support, compensation, apologies and practical assistance. The other is the...
McIntosh v Fisk
Money received before a collapse is not automatically safe. Liquidators may distinguish between value genuinely supplied and apparent profit generated only by an...
David Charles Browne v David Ross Petterson as Liquidator of Polyethylene Pipe Systems Limited (in liq)
Read this case as a caution about timing, purpose and records. It is not a broad rule that every insider payment or shareholder security is invalid. The lesson is...
John Gilbert and QSM Trustees Limited (in receivership and in liquidation) v Body Corporate 162791
Read this case as a strong warning rather than a neat bright-line rule. Do not assume body corporate levies are just an old debt that stays with the owner company...
Prattley Enterprises Limited v Vero Insurance New Zealand Limited
For business owners, the main lesson is to check what your property policy really covers before a loss happens and again before you settle a claim. In this case,...
Sportzone Motorcycles Limited (in liquidation) and Motor Trade Finances Limited v Commerce Commission
The practical lesson from this case is to build each fee from the event that triggers it. If a fee is charged when a loan is set up, the business should be able to...
Chuan Wu v Body Corporate 366611 and Theta Management Limited
If your business owns or occupies premises in a unit title development, do not treat access control as just an operational issue. It is tied to property rights,...
Firm PI 1 Limited v Zurich Australian Insurance Limited
A replacement-value label does not protect a business from an inadequate sum insured or an unclear interaction with statutory and other insurance. Check both the...
University of Canterbury v The Insurance Council of New Zealand Inc
For business owners, the main lesson is that building compliance, insurance exposure and reinstatement costs often turn on the exact wording of the statute, not...
P (SC 87/2012) v Bridgecorp Ltd (In Receivership and in Liquidation)
If your business uses settlement deeds, payment plans or workout arrangements, this case is a reminder to draft enforcement documents carefully. A pre-signed...
Evgeny Orlov v Anza Distributing (NZ) Limited (In liquidation) and USG Interiors Pacific Limited
If your business wants both settlement certainty and an appellate ruling, do not assume you can safely settle first and appeal later. This case shows that once a...
Tiny Intelligence Limited v Resport Limited
Winning an IP claim is only part of the strategy. The owner may need to choose between compensation for its loss and recovery of the infringer's profit, and that...
James Bryson v Three Foot Six Limited
A contractor agreement cannot carry an employment model that operates in the opposite way. New Zealand businesses should review the contract and daily reality...