ER Resolutions

Name: ER Resolutions
Address: Porirua, NZ
Telephone: +64220170091

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ER Resolutions

ER Resolutions is a leading provider of HR and Employment Relations services. We support employers of all sizes across the Wellington region and beyond.

ER Resolutions provide an HR consultancy service, specialising in managing, resolving and mitigating employment issues and increasing the performance of your people. We have a flexible range of services available which we tailor to the needs of each employer we work with. Small employers engage us for our ability to support them with all of their HR needs, knowing they are getting specialist suppo

rt in the ER and performance areas that carry the biggest risks and impact for their business. Larger employers engage us to support their existing HR function with specialist ER and performance expertise and capacity. Whether you need an expert to manage an employment issue for you, you need to increase the capability of your own managers or HR function, or you want a flexible support service that can be called on as required, we can help.

07/04/2026

With substantial increases in fuel costs that are likely to continue for the foreseeable future, it’s important to review whether there are opportunities to reduce your exposure by managing your fleet more effectively.
Many businesses that require staff to undertake work travel – including for example businesses employing sales staff and tradespeople - have relaxed policies that often allow some level of personal use of their vehicles.
While this can be a valuable staff benefit, it is important to be aware of the associated cost, and to consider your alternative options if those costs are set to significantly increase. Options will depend whether you provide the vehicle as part of the employee’s contractual package, but could include moving from allocated to pool vehicles, placing restrictions on personal use, reducing the size of your fleet, or making operational changes that reduce your business mileage.
Any changes of this nature need to be carefully planned and thoughtfully executed. If the employee has been using an employer-provided vehicle, they may resist changes that increase their personal travel costs.
Government guidance about the National situation is available from MBIE: Business.Govt
Talk to ER Resolutions for initial advice about the options that could be suit your business, and for assistance to implement changes.

31/08/2025

The Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Act has passed and will soon come into force. Here's what you need to know:

- Pay Discussions Allowed: Employees can openly discuss their pay with colleagues without fear of retaliation.

- No Retaliation: Employers can't take action against staff for sharing pay information, even with confidentiality clauses.

- Change aims to promote pay transparency and fairness.

To prepare, review your pay rates, structures, and processes to ensure they're fair and consistent.
This can help minimize potential workplace tensions and ensure compliance.

Talk to us at ER Resolutions for assistance on Pay practices or review of pay rates now.

18/05/2025

Proposed Changes to Employment Law: Serious Misconduct and Unjustified Dismissal Claims

One of the changes likely to be made later this year to New Zealand's employment laws will aim to hold employees accountable for their actions, particularly in respect of actions deemed ‘serious misconduct’. These changes would reduce any compensation that would otherwise be awarded to the employee in an unjustified dismissal claim due to failing on the employers’ part, by up to 100%, depending on whether the employee’s behaviour was deemed to be the bigger issue. However, uncertainties exist on how the courts will interpret this in practice. Key questions include:

- Will this approach cover unjustified disadvantage claims too?
- Is it realistic that this will move the courts away from judging the employers’
actions against high standards of procedural fairness, particularly in cases where
the employee denies all or parts of the allegations?
- How clearly can ‘serious misconduct’ be defined?

At ER Resolutions we will watch this with great interest as it develops through the legislative process.

While its clearly intended to assist employers to deal with serious behavioral issues, if the above uncertainties are not addressed it could result in uncertainty and costly litigation for all parties as the Courts interpret the changes case by case.

06/04/2025

Making employees more accountable for their contribution to employment relationship problems is one of the key principles of the employment law changes that have been announced.

Proposed employment law changes aim to make employees more accountable for their role in employment relationship problems. The key change:
• Reduced compensation: Up to 100% reduction for employees whose behaviour contributed to their situation.
This shift recognizes shared responsibility and may influence how employer-employee dynamics are evaluated.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/535675/personal-grievance-payouts-to-be-reduced-after-law-change

28/02/2025

Introducing an income cap for unjustified dismissal claims would bring New Zealand into line with other similar jurisdictions around the world, including UK and Australia.

There are three main reasons why this fits well within our overall employment law framework:

- Employment laws are there to prevent employers from exploiting workers as a result of uneven bargaining power, and leveraging this as a competitive advantage within their market. However, there is a point at which the bargaining power is no longer unequal between employee and employer – senior leaders commanding high salaries are not vulnerable workers and do not have the same need to be protected against potentially exploitative employers as lower income workers.

- Employment laws are supposed to underpin a productive economy. The New Zealand economy has significant challenges with productivity, and ineffective senior leaders significantly contribute to productivity or performance issues for their employer. Managing a senior leader over an extended period for poor performance, behaviours or simply poor fit with organisational culture/values, exacerbates those productivity issues for the employer.

Impacts of the income cap in other jurisdictions include:

- Longer contractual notice periods becoming the norm for senior positions paid at or above the income cap, giving them greater financial security in the event their employment is terminated. For example, in the UK it has been common business practice for a long time that mid-senior level managers, at least within larger corporate employers, are afforded a 3 month notice period – which is the same wages compensation employees typically receive for a successful unjustified dismissal claim.

- High earning employees making alternative claims against their employer, including discrimination or breach of contract, to get around the earning cap for an unjustified dismissal claim.

Some employment law changes frequently change with a change of government. However, in ER Resolutions’ view its unlikely a new government would change this one – instead, we predict it will become part of an established new normal for the highest paid positions within the labour market.

If you would like to discuss the likely impact of this change on your business, get in touch with ER Resolutions.

21/01/2025

2025 is set to deliver some significant changes to our employment law framework.

Currently, these changes have been signalled via media statements to include:

- Introducing an income cap of $180k for unjustified dismissal claims – meaning people earning above that threshold will no longer be able to claim unjustified dismissal. It appears they will still be able to raise personal grievance claims alleging unjustified disadvantage.

- Employees whose behaviour is deemed to have contributed to their situation will have any compensation they would otherwise have been awarded for unjustified dismissal or disadvantage, reduced by up to 100%.

- Employees who have been found to have been dismissed for serious misconduct will not be able to claim unjustified dismissal, as they currently do for example if they believe the dismissal was procedurally unfair.

- There will be a higher level of tolerance for procedural errors for employers running employment processes, including processes resulting in a dismissal.

- Employers will have the right to make partial reductions to pay in response to a partial strike reinstated.

These changes have not yet gone through the parliamentary process, so may be adjusted as a result of that. Additional changes could also be added that are complimentary or necessary to support the changes that have been signalled.
It has been signalled that these changes will take affect during 2025. Historically significant employment law changes have typically been introduced around July or November.

While nothing is certain at the moment, ER Resolutions will take a look at what could happen in respect of each change through our next social media updates.

06/12/2024

Mediation involves an impartial mediator facilitating a meeting to help employers and employees resolve disputes.

Depending on the nature of the issues, resolution could involve a range of different outcomes that the parties are supported to come up with and agree between themselves.

Mediation has a 70-80% success rate depending on the forum – where both parties are committed to reaching an outcome the success rate can be considerably higher. It is used as an alternative to litigation in many aspects of New Zealand law because it is so much cheaper and quicker than addressing disputes through litigation.

It is important to note that workplace mediation works best for disputes or issues involving interpersonal conflicts, or differing interpretations of a matter. Serious disciplinary-type allegations are generally not suitable to be addressed via mediation.

Need assistance?

Talk to us about the nature of the employment dispute and context, and we can recommend the best resolution option for you.

24/10/2024

A quick guide for employers on handling redundancies, following proper procedures, and avoiding common pitfalls

Types of Redundancies

The two main types of redundancy are voluntary redundancy and compulsory redundancy.

Voluntary Redundancy:

This occurs when employers ask their team if anyone would like to take redundancy. It can be mutually beneficial, particularly for employees who may be considering leaving anyway, especially if there is a financial package involved. However, it's important not to pressure anyone into this option. Ensure no one feels singled out, and make sure the process is transparent.

Compulsory Redundancy:

This is where the employer makes the decision to make a role redundant, and the employee does not have a choice. But, of course, it’s not as simple as giving notice. The process must follow New Zealand's workplace change process, and any mistakes here can result in claims for unjustified dismissal, potentially leading to action through the Employment Relations Authority.

The Workplace Change Process

To avoid the risk of unjustified dismissal claims, the workplace change process must be handled correctly....

Read the full article here....

https://www.hrnz.org.nz

02/10/2024

In response to the Uber drivers case that reclassified some Uber drivers as employees rather than contractors, the government is updating employment legislation to ensure that where people agree to work as a contractor, in a working arrangement that allows them to operate as an independent contractor, they cannot subsequently argue for employee status. Certainty around contractor status is good news for anyone engaging a contractor, as well as for most contractors, who may struggle to continue to operate as contractors if employment law does not allow for this.

Many contractors prefer the flexibility, independence and higher earnings that are typically available to them when operating as independent contractors rather than employees. Many businesses prefer to engage contractors rather than employees where they want someone who can operate independently and on their own account, and/or who have specialist skills or capabilities that the business needs on a flexible or intermittent basis, rather than as part of their core workforce.

Workers may also benefit from the proposed test by which a contractor can be defined, as this will lead businesses to make more informed decisions about whether to engage a contractor or an employee to undertake a particular type of work. Clarity is good for everyone, as it reduces mismatched expectations, and resulting disputes which are costly and unproductive for all involved.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/528066/government-to-change-law-stipulating-whether-workers-are-contractors-or-employees

06/09/2024

We provide specialist ER and change services to medium - large employers who wish to engage us to support their in-house generalist HR team.
Often busy HR teams don’t have the resources required to manage tricky ER issues within the immediate timeframe they frequently require.
Having these services on call when you need them instead can be a sensible and cost effective alternative.

Specialist services we offer include:

- Collective bargaining, particularly if you are considering making significant changes
to your collective agreement.

- Change or restructure processes, and technical restructures / business transfers.

- Resolution Institute accredited mediation services and conflict resolution coaching
to resolve disputes in-house.

- Professional supervision / coaching and mentoring for generalist HR team members
wishing to develop their ER skills.

- ER training for HR staff, including legal updates.

Please contact us for further information.

12/08/2024

According to a 2023 study, 26% of workers in the manufacturing industry admit to experiencing excessive stress at work.
While some levels of stress at work are to be expected, excessive stress can significantly impact overall well-being and on-the-job performance.
When employees face high levels of stress, it can lead to numerous wellness issues, including:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Lack of energy
• Trouble sleeping
• Headaches
• Body aches and pains
• Difficulty focusing
• Aggression
• Health issues, such as heart disease, obesity and chronic pain
• Substance abuse issues

Job design, organisational structure, management capability and workplace culture are factors that can significantly increase or decrease workplace stress.
ER Resolutions can provide advice and guidance on all of these topics.

Address

Porirua

Telephone

+64220170091

Website

http://www.erresolutions.co.nz/ContactUs

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