Get disciplinary letters and process guidance for staff issues

This service is commonly used by New Zealand employers dealing with employee misconduct, repeated performance concerns, attendance issues or other situations where formal written communication may be needed. It is often a good fit for small and growing businesses that want legally reviewed warning letters and guidance on how those letters should be used in context. If the issue has already escalated into a formal dispute or external claim, you may need a different service because ongoing representation is not included here.

The letters can be used across common workplace scenarios such as poor performance, misconduct, repeated lateness, failure to follow workplace procedures or other conduct concerns that may justify a formal warning process. What is appropriate will depend on the facts, the employment documents and what has already happened in the workplace. In some matters, the factual working arrangement can matter as much as the contract wording, especially where duties, reporting lines or expectations have changed over time.

The optional consult is useful where the facts are messy, emotions are high, or you are unsure whether a warning is the right next step. For example, there may be disputed allegations, earlier informal conversations, or uncertainty about whether the issue is conduct or performance related. In that consult, a lawyer can talk through the timeline, the documents you already have and the practical options available. That helps you decide whether to use the letter pack as planned, adjust the approach, or move to a different employment law service.

Once you proceed, we collect the key details about the workplace issue and the type of letters you need. A lawyer then prepares or adapts the relevant documents and provides guidance on where they fit in the disciplinary process. You will receive the templates and supporting explanations for use in your business. If the matter changes after that, such as the employee raising a formal challenge, further work may need to be scoped separately because the fixed-fee is aimed at the documents and related guidance, not ongoing representation.

The fixed-fee covers the disciplinary letter pack itself, including customisable disciplinary letter templates, written warning and final warning templates, and legal guidance on how those documents are typically used. It also includes advice on process and compliance issues connected to the letters. The service does not include ongoing HR management, representation in disputes or acting for you through a defended employment matter. If your situation is unusually complex, we can discuss whether extra advice or a separate service is more suitable.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Disciplinary Letter Pack service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.