Appellate judgments 2021

Supreme Court

[2021] NZSC 188 H (SC 135-2021) v The Employment Relations Authority [PDF, 184 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - no error of law - no public interest in Court of Appeal's decision - application dismissed.

[2021] NZSC 184 Gill Pizza v A Labour Inspector (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment [PDF, 288 KB]  JURISDICTION OF AUTHORITY -  NATURE OF EMPLOYMENT - whether Authority has jurisdiction to decide employment status in Labour Inspector claim - text of the Act only supports one interpretation - Parliament intention was likely to have allowed Authority the jurisdiction - appeal dismissed.

[2021] NZSC 157 Tourism Holdings Limited v A Labour Inspector of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment [PDF, 117 KB]  HOLIDAY PAY – whether commission payments should be included in holiday pay calculation – regularity can be assessed on a 4-weekly basis – commission payments were regular – commission payments were part of employment agreement - commission payments should be included in holiday pay calculations – appeal dismissed.

[2021] NZSC 105 B v ALA [PDF, 40 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - no question of general or public importance - application declined.

[2021] NZSC 102 FMV v TZB [PDF, 392 KB] JURISDICTION - DEFINITION OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS - whether Authority had exclusive jurisdiction for employee's claim - Authority has exclusive jurisdiction if problem can be described under s 161(1) - Authority had exclusive jurisdiction for employee's claim.

[2021] NZSC 101 Alkazaz v Enterprise IT Ltd [PDF, 200 KB] APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO APPLY FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL DISMISSED - minor factual errors corrected in previous judgment.

[2021] NZSC 59 Alkazaz v Enterprise IT Ltd [PDF, 171 KB] APPLICATION FOR STAY – stay is not necessary in the circumstances – application declined.

[2021] NZSC 39 Tourism Holdings Ltd v A Labour Inspector [PDF, 110 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - application granted.

[2021] NZSC 19 Yan Zhang v Telco Asset Management Ltd [PDF, 156 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - no merit in issues raised - application declined.

Court of Appeal

[2021] NZCA 705 A Labour Inspector v Southern Taxis Ltd [PDF, 320 KB] PENALTIES - INVOLVEMENT BY THIRD PARTY - involvement in breach requires knowledge of the relevant facts that make up the breach, not necessarily their legal effect - subjective belief not relevant for third party involvement - proceeding referred back to Employment Court.

[2021] NZCA 686 Board of Trustees of Melville High School v Cronin-Lampe [PDF, 155 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - application granted. [PDF, 155 KB]

[2021] NZCA 598 Bowen v Bank of New Zealand [PDF, 161 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - no question of law - application declined. [PDF, 161 KB]

[2021] NZCA 591 Sandhu and Others v Gate Gourmet New Zealand and Another [PDF, 251 KB] MINIMUM WAGE – whether minimum wage is payable when employee agrees to work but is instructed not to work – Minimum Wage Act requires payment for agreed hours unless hours are not worked due to sickness or default – appeal allowed.

[2021] NZCA 560 Metropolitan Glass and Glazing Limited v Labour Inspector. Ministry of Business and Innovation and Employment [PDF, 271 KB] HOLIDAY PAY – whether short-term incentive scheme bonus payments must be included in calculation of holiday pay – short term incentive scheme was part of employment agreement – employer had discretion not to pay bonuses even if conditions were satisfied – bonuses did not need to be included in holiday pay calculation – appeal allowed.

[2021] NZCA 546 Saipe v Bethell [PDF, 134 KB] APPLICATION FOR RECALL – judgment contained error – judgment recalled.

[2021] NZCA 510 The Attorney-General v Fleming [PDF, 184 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL GRANTED - whether respondent was a "homeworker" employed by the Ministry of Health when caring for her disabled adult son - definition of "work" - personal grievance for discrimination - whether lost wages and holiday pay are prevented by pt 4A of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act.

[2021] NZCA 507 H v Employment Relations Authority [PDF, 249 KB] APPLICATION TO STRIKE OUT JUDICIAL REVIEW - Court of Appeal does not have jurisdiction to judicially review Authority determinations - aspects of judicial review relating to Authority determinations struck out - appropriate way to challenge Employment Court decisions is via appeal on question of law - judicial review of Employment Court decisions struck out

[2021] NZCA 493 Maheta v Skybus New Zealand Limited [PDF, 124 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL GRANTED - jurisdiction to order stay on Authority costs - impact of legal aid on application for security for costs.

[2021] NZCA 483 Head and Ors v Chief Executive of the Inland Revenue Department and Anor [PDF, 179 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - no important questions of law - application declined.

[2021] NZCA 466 Senate Investments Trust v Cooper [PDF, 186 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - no question of law - application declined.

[2021] NZCA 434 New Zealand Fusion International Limited (in administration) and Guan v A Labour Inspector [PDF, 165 KB] APPLICATION FOR STRIKE-OUT - JUDICIAL REVIEW - very limited jurisdiction for judicial review of Employment Court - application for strike-out granted.

[2021] NZCA 429 Saipe v Bethell [PDF, 168 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - no question of law - application declined.

[2021] NZCA 399 Lorigan v Infinity Automotive [PDF, 169 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - no question of law - application declined.

[2021] NZCA 299 Commissioner of Police v NZ Police Assoc Inc [PDF, 163 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL – proposed question is more about statutory interpretation than contractual interpretation – question is genuinely arguable – application granted –appropriate method to establish generic rotational positions under Policing Act 2008.

[2021] NZCA 203 Sandhu and Others v Gate Gourmet New Zealand and anor [PDF, 193 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - important question of law established - Employment Court decision turned on issue of law, not fact - ongoing proceedings mean issue is not moot - leave granted.

[2021] NZCA 192 A Labour Inspector v Gill Pizza Ltd and Others [PDF, 265 KB] JURISDICTION OF AUTHORITY - NATURE OF EMPLOYMENT - whether Authority can decide the question of employment status in Labour Inspector claim - both text and purpose suggest that Authority has such jurisdiction - appeal allowed.

[2021] NZCA 165 Concrete Structures (NZ) Ltd v Ward [PDF, 128 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - no important question of law - judge's findings of fact had sufficient evidential basis - no evidence of bias - application dismissed.

[2021] NZCA 132 Ahmed Alkazaz v Enterprise IT Limited [PDF, 110 KB] APPLICATIONS FOR VARIOUS ORDERS - applications are completely lacking in merit - declined. (You can probably use this one for the upcoming Supreme Court decision).

[2021] NZCA 111 Idea Services v Davis [PDF, 187 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - no serious arguably question of law to appeal - leave declined.

[2021] NZCA 60 New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union v Fire and Emergency New Zealand [PDF, 195 KB] The Court of Appeal declined the NZPFU’s application for leave to appeal the Employment Court’s decision that s 30 of the Fire and Emergency Act 2017 prevailed over the terms of a collective agreement, finding there was no seriously arguable question of law.

[2021] NZCA 13 Alkazaz v Enterprise IT Limited [PDF, 173 KB] APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL - no question of law - application denied.

[2021] NZCA 1 A Labour Inspector v Tourism Holdings Limited [PDF, 247 KB] The Court of Appeal has found that commission payments were a regular part of tour bus operator employees' pay and should be included in holiday pay calculations.