Employment Court of New Zealand Te Kōti Take Mahi o Aotearoa

[2015] NZEmpC 120 G L Freeman Holdings Ltd v Livingston (Judgment of Judge A A Couch, 24 July 2015) DE NOVO CHALLENGE - Employee resigned without giving the full stipulated period of notice required under contract – employer withheld final pay as a result - whether provision of agreement relied upon by employer in order to withhold money from employee was enforceable in law – whether that provision should be seen as liquidated damages for breach of contract or as a penalty - whether employee should be penalised for neglecting to give required notice period – if so, what amount – Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company principles considered – regard given to intention of parties at time agreement was entered into – no monetary loss suffered as result of failure to give full notice period – forfeiture clause was to compel employee to give requisite notice by holding threat of loss of wages over employee and as such was held to be penalty provision which in good conscience and equity the Court ough…

[2015] NZEmpC 118 Nisha v LSG Sky Chefs New Zealand Limited - (Judgment of Chief Judge GL Colgan, 23 July 2015) CHALLENGE TO OBJECTION – OBJECTION TO ANSWERING INTERROGATORIES – relevance of documents considered – some of objections to interrogatories upheld – those relating to performance and dismissal overruled – proportionality re-emphasised – no new issues raised.

[2015] NZEmpC 116 Nisha v LSG Sky Chefs New Zealand Ltd - (Interlocutory Judgment (No 12) of Chief Judge G L Colgan, 20 July 2015)  APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO FILE FURTHER INTERLOCUTORY APPLICATIONS – declined.

[2015] NZEmpC 114 TGP v TFE and SDI and TDI (Judgment of Judge M E Perkins, 16 July 2015)  PROHIBITION ON PUBLICATION – principles underlying circumstances of non-publication at the Employment Court considered and applied – application successful.

[2015] NZEmpC 112 Vince Roberts Electrical v Carroll (Judgment of Judge M E Perkins, 14 July 2015)  IDENTITY OF EMPLOYER – HOLIDAYS ACT – RAISING OF PERSONAL GRIEVANCE – whether liability was with company or individual – individual found to be liable on facts – when limitation should be applied to Holidays Act entitlements – time runs from end of employment – personal grievance – not raised sufficient for employer to address it – out of time.

[2015] NZEmpC 110 Nisha v LSG Sky Chefs New Zealand Ltd - (Interlocutory Judgment (No 10) of Chief Judge G L Colgan,13 July 2015) APPLICATION FOR RECALL AND REISSUE OF JUDGMENT – plaintiff correctly identified an oversight in making orders – defendant’s affidavit has addressed the order that should have been made – unnecessary to recall and reissue.

[2015] NZEmpC 131 Su v Zhang and iGolf Ltd (Holiday Pay and Costs Judgment of Judge M E Perkins, 31 July 2015)  HOLIDAY PAY- COSTS – holiday pay calculated based on Holidays Act plus interest – costs calculated on standard principles.

[2015] NZEmpC 105 Scarborough v Micron Security Products Limited (Costs Judgment Judge Christina Inglis, 3 July 2015) COSTS – UPLIFT – indemnity costs on two of four applications – uplift for re-litigation of matters already decided – aggravating factors and overall justice to successful party considered – costs on costs accepted – total $14,321.96.

[2015] NZEmpC 107  Zespri International Ltd v Yu (Interlocutory Judgment (No 8( Chief Judge Colgan, 7 July 2015)  COMPLIANCE ORDER – return of laptop – questions of confidentiality and ownership of documents to be managed – Authority’s order set aside – incremental process and specific conditions ordered.

[2015] NZEmpC 102 Makana Northland Ltd v Carney - (Judgment of Chief Judge G L Colgan, 1 July 2015)  CONSENT – confidential settlement – terms not to be published – inspection only by leave of a Judge.

[2015] NZEmpC 101 Georgetti v Compass Communications Ltd (Judgment of Judge Christina Inglis, 30 June 2015) LEAVE TO FILE CROSS-CHALLENGE OUT OF TIME – relevant factors considered – leave granted.

[2015] NZEmpC 99 NZ Meat Workers Union Inc v South Pacific Meats Ltd (Interlocutory Judgment of Chief Judge G L Colgan, 25 June 2015). REFERRAL OF QUESTION OF LAW FROM EMPLOYMENT RELATONS AUTHORITY - Authority sought answer to whether it was empowered to make an order for disclosure of documents which may be self-incriminatory – issue as to whether that was a question of law referred under s177 of Employment Relations Act 2000 or a partial removal of the Authority’s substantive proceeding pursuant to s178 – Authority clarified it was seeking an answer to a question of law pursuant to s177 – whether there are any prohibitions to the referral under s177 - consideration around whether discovery of documents subject to privilege against self-incrimination related to procedure or jurisdiction - Held, question of law did not relate to Authority’s procedure - Authority’s powers set out in s160 include power to require documents from parties - application to strike out the referral declined, m…

Allied Security Ltd v Marriott interlocutory judgment of Judge B A Corkill