Employment Lawyers

Choosing an employment lawyer or employment advocate

If you are dealing with an employment dispute (dismissal, disciplinary issues, performance management, bullying, wage arrears, holidays, or a threatened Personal Grievance (PG)), getting the right representation early can be the difference between a clean resolution and months of risk, cost, and damage.

In New Zealand, people often search for an "employment lawyer" when what they really need is strong employment law representation. That can be a lawyer, an employment advocate, a union, an employer association, or self-representation. What matters is competence, strategy, and process.

Employment lawyer vs employment advocate: the practical differences

• Regulation and complaints: Lawyers are regulated under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act and client care rules. Advocates are not lawyers, and accountability and standards can vary widely.
• Privilege and confidentiality: Communications with lawyers can attract legal professional privilege in certain contexts. Do not assume the same protection automatically applies with non-lawyer representatives.
• Cost structure: Many lawyers run hourly billing and can be expensive fast. Some advocates offer fixed fee stages, practical triage, and lower overheads. The real issue is value - what you get for what you pay.
• Forum and formality: Mediation and the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) are designed to be accessible. The Employment Court is more formal and procedure heavy, and representation choices can become more constrained.

How to choose representation (employees and employers)

Before you hire any employment lawyer or advocate, ask the questions that actually protect you:

• What is the strategy? What are we trying to achieve, and in what order?
• What are the risks? What are the worst case outcomes if we go to mediation, the ERA, or the Employment Court?
• What will it cost? Get a clear scope, a realistic estimate, and how cost blowouts are avoided.
• What is the evidence plan? What documents are needed, what witnesses matter, and what is missing?
• What is the process plan? Who writes what, when, and how deadlines are managed.
• Who will do the work? The person selling the case is not always the person actually running it.

Watch-outs: the things people only learn after it is too late

• "Costs threats" used as leverage: Employers and lawyers sometimes threaten large costs to scare a claim away. The actual legal position is often far more limited than the threats suggest.
• Bad process creates liability: For employers, most losses happen because of process failures (predetermination, lack of disclosure, rushed timelines, no real consideration of responses).
• Delay kills leverage: For employees, delay makes evidence harder and reduces settlement power. For employers, delay increases backpay exposure and escalates conflict.
• Signing without understanding: A settlement can be final. Do not sign in mediation (or outside mediation) unless you understand what you are giving up and what happens if the other side breaches.

Employer focused employment law advice

If you are an employer, employment law advice is not just "can we fire them" - it is risk control. The correct approach is to build defensible process, preserve evidence, and make decisions that meet the section 103A test of justification.

• Disciplinary and dismissal processes that are defensible, documented, and fair.
• Performance management that is real (not box-ticking) and avoids predetermination.
• Exit negotiations and settlements that reduce risk and prevent later claims.
• Defending Personal Grievances and managing cost exposure and reputational damage.

Employee focused employment law representation

If you are an employee, the usual starting point is raising a Personal Grievance (PG) within the time limits and preserving evidence. The real work is building a coherent factual timeline, identifying the legal issues, and choosing the right path (negotiation, mediation, ERA).

• Unjustified dismissal and defective disciplinary processes.
• Disadvantage claims: unfair process short of dismissal.
• Wages and Holidays Act issues: arrears, holiday pay, public holidays.
• Settlement negotiation with realistic risk analysis.