Employee ERA Costs Uplift

Employee ERA Costs Award

As an example we refer to WATERS v S.T.L LINEHAUL LIMITED [2021] NZERA 350. STL Linehaul Limited was ordered to pay $17,000 compensation. The costs award that followed came to the amount of $9,071.56. Costs were uplifted from the daily tariff. The points raised in that decision included:

• STL was unsuccessful in having applied to have the employee representative removed from representing Mr Waters.
• STL attempted on an informal basis to remove the substantive matter to the Employment Court, this was unsuccessful.
• STL failed to file witness statements as per timetable directions. Further difficulties arose to have a signatory to the dismissal decsion give evidence, which did not eventuate.
• Other witnesses of STL gave evidence which was inconsident from the witness statements that had been filed. This increased the duration of the hearing in this matter.

Dealing with these kind of issues in an Employment Relations Authority matter will often result in costs being increased and uplifted, and in this case, for issues that were additionally pursued but did not result in the employer's favour, including the application to seek removal of a representative, this was taken into consideration on the issue of costs that followed the substantive matter.