While we practise across the breadth of employment law, the team has particular experience in both industrial relations and the protection of confidential information, including the enforcement of restraints of trade and confidentiality obligations. The team is a market leader. It is consistently ranked in the top tier of employment law teams in the Asia Pacific Legal 500's Guide to New Zealand law firms.

The team is led by Richard McIlraith, consistently recognised as one of New Zealand's leading Employment Law practitioners by the Asia Pacific Legal 500. Richard heads up a team of 12, including three other senior practitioners in the area - Gillian Service and Kylie Dunn.

The team has a wide range of clients. Due to the confidential nature of much of our work, we prefer not to identify specific matters in which we have been involved. However, clients of the team include many prominent multinationals operating in New Zealand and many large New Zealand businesses operating across a range of industries. We assist them with all contentious and non-contentious matters in the employment area.

Areas of Expertise 

The employment team provides clients with advice on all contentious and non-contentious aspects of New Zealand employment law, including:

• The relationship between employers and unions, including collective bargaining issues, the terms of collective employment agreements, the legality of strike action and lockouts, mediation in bargaining and the Employment Relations Authority's facilitation process. We have considerable experience in dealing with unlawful strike situations and assisting clients with protracted bargaining.
• The protection of confidential information and restraints of trade. We have extensive experience in obtaining swift legal remedies for breaches of duties by senior employees, including obtaining and executing Anton Piller orders and other injunctive relief.
• Personal grievance claims and other employment related litigation, from mediation through to advocacy in the Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
  Issues arising during employment, including misconduct issues, performance management, health and safety and stress claims.
• The employment consequences associated with the sale, purchase or outsourcing of a business, including redundancy issues, communicating with employees and unions, drafting relevant sections in agreements for sale and purchase and advising on the transfer of undertakings regime in New Zealand.
• Restructuring and negotiation of severance arrangements with departing employees.
• Drafting employment agreements, workplace policies, and other associated documentation.
• Employee benefits, including superannuation and Kiwisaver issues.
• The Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, including developing and assisting with the introduction and implementation of compliance programmes, and defending prosecutions.
• Issues relating to human rights, privacy, harassment and personal injury/accident compensation.

The team works closely with other practice areas (particularly Corporate and Tax) to ensure that specialist advice is given by experts in the area.

Publications

18 August 2009
Call on me (but not when I’m driving) – The impact on employers of the new cellphone ban

21 July 2009
Out of Hours

18 May 2009
Quarterly Summary