Employment insights
Practical perspectives on employment rights, workplace relationships and the decisions that shape working life in New Zealand.
Knowledge worth keeping
12 articles
Rights & processes
A performance improvement plan should help an employee succeed. When the standards are vague, the process begins too late, or the person judging performance is involved in a workplace conflict, it can…
Parker Van LawrenceDispute strategy
There is a particular kind of courage that becomes much easier when someone else is paying for it.
Parker Van LawrenceWorkplace culture
Workplace gossip can turn an ordinary working day into an exercise in self-defence. A colleague’s private difficulties become communal entertainment. A mistake becomes a personality assessment. A rumour…
Parker Van LawrenceCase commentary
Three new Employment Relations Authority determinations have left a former Canterbury publican personally liable for more than $21,000 in employment debts and costs. But the decisions raise a broader…
Parker Van LawrenceCase commentary
An Auckland care-home operator has been ordered to pay just under $84,000 to a migrant caregiver, plus a further $4,000 penalty to the Crown. The decision is about more than one employer’s shabby…
Parker Van LawrenceRights & processes
Firing someone is not just a decision. It is a process.
Parker Van LawrenceWages & entitlements
For a long time in New Zealand, if an employer did not pay wages properly, it was treated as a workplace dispute. That meant employees had to chase what they were owed through the Employment Relations…
Parker Van LawrenceWages & entitlements
From 27 August 2025, New Zealand employees are expressly protected when they talk about pay.
Parker Van LawrenceRights & processes · Archive
As an employee, receiving a warning or facing disciplinary action from your employer can be a difficult and stressful experience. It’s important to
Parker Van LawrenceWorkplace culture · Archive
The recent floods in Auckland, Waikato, Waitomo, and Tairāwhiti have left many workers unsure about their employment rights and options. While the safety and well-being of people affected by natural…
Parker Van LawrenceRights & processes · Archive
When is a worker an employee, and when are they an independent contractor? The answer to this question has major implications for employment rights, tax obligations, and other legal matters. The New…
Parker Van LawrenceCase commentary · Archive
SUMMARY: An interim injunction is granted. By order of the Authority, Steve Teixeira is restrained from directly or indirectly carrying on or being interested in any capacity in any business that is…
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