(6 May 2026) The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has launched a significant public consultation on New Zealand’s employment dispute resolution system, and it has the potential to reshape how workplace disputes are handled for years to come. If you are an employer, employee, or anyone who has navigated the employment dispute process, now is the time to have your say.
What Is the consultation about?
On 5 May 2026, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden opened a public consultation seeking feedback on people’s experiences with employment disputes across the entire journey – from workplace-level resolution through to mediation, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), and the Employment Court. The consultation closes on 31 July 2026.
The discussion document, published by MBIE, identifies four key areas of interest:
- How disputes arise, and whether there are areas of law that could be improved to minimise unnecessary disputes
- How disputes progress and what influences whether they resolve early or escalate
- The time disputes take to resolve, and the impact of delay on individuals and businesses
- How well the government-provided dispute resolution system is performing in terms of fairness, affordability, and efficiency
Why now?
The scale of employment disputes in New Zealand makes this a timely review. According to the Ministry of Justice’s 2023 Legal Needs Survey, approximately 4.7% of New Zealanders – around 192,000 adults – experienced an employment relationship problem in 2023 alone, across a workforce of around 2.4 million people in over 160,000 businesses.
Minister van Velden has been frank about what is driving the review. She has cited concerns about the length of time disputes take to resolve, the costs involved, and – notably – the conduct of unregulated employment advocates. The Minister has publicly stated that she has heard examples of advocates engaging in abusive or unprofessional behaviour and encouraging clients to pursue unfounded claims or seek disproportionate settlements. The role of lay advocates, who operate in the employment jurisdiction without the regulatory oversight that applies to lawyers, is firmly in the spotlight.
How the current system works
New Zealand’s government-provided dispute resolution system operates on a tiered model, designed to resolve matters at the lowest level of formality possible:
Early Resolution is a free, informal, phone-based service to help parties resolve issues quickly before they escalate.
Mediation is a free, voluntary, semi-formal process facilitated by an independent mediator. On average, mediation takes around 51 working days from submission to close.
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) investigates disputes and makes determinations based on the merits of a case. The average time from lodging an application to determination is 211 working days.
The Employment Court handles appeals and more complex matters. The average time from lodgement to judgment is 285 working days.
Cases can also be appealed further to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
The intent of this tiered system is that it be fast, fair, and accessible – but the consultation signals that, in practice, the system may be falling short of these goals, particularly around timeliness and cost.
What the consultation covers
The discussion document covers the full scope of employment relationship disputes under the Employment Relations Act 2000. This includes dismissals, restructuring, redundancy, trial periods, performance issues, personal grievances, employment agreements, collective bargaining, contractor versus employee status, and employer/employee conduct including good faith obligations.
Importantly, minimum entitlements (such as leave and minimum pay) and health and safety matters fall under separate legislation and are outside the scope of this consultation.
MBIE is particularly interested in disputes that resolve entirely within the workplace – a category that is currently difficult to measure but which likely accounts for the vast majority of employment disputes. The consultation seeks to understand what drives early resolution and what causes disputes to escalate into the formal system.
Why this matters for our clients
For employers, the consultation raises the prospect of changes that could make dispute resolution faster and less costly – potentially through changes to the ERA process, the mediation framework, or the rules around representation. It also signals the possibility of regulatory reform affecting employment advocates, which could affect the dynamics of disputes where the other party is represented by an advocate rather than a lawyer.
For employees, the review could result in a more accessible and better-resourced dispute resolution pathway. However, any changes to the role of advocates could also reduce the availability of lower-cost or more accessible representation.
For employment lawyers, the consultation is an opportunity to directly inform what the next iteration of the dispute resolution framework looks like. Practitioners who deal with the ERA and Employment Court regularly have firsthand experience of where delays, costs, and procedural issues arise – and that expertise is exactly what MBIE is seeking.
How to make a submission
Submissions can be made by email to: employmentrelationspolicyteam@mbie.govt.nz
The discussion document contains guiding questions across three themes – causes of disputes, how disputes are resolved, and how the system is performing – but submitters are not required to answer every question. Submissions can be as broad or as targeted as you wish.
The consultation closes at 5pm on 31 July 2026.
More information and the discussion document are available at: mbie.govt.nz/have-your-say/consultation-on-the-employment-dispute-system
Our view
This consultation is significant. The last major structural review of the employment dispute system preceded or accompanied the Employment Relations Act 2000, and the workplace landscape has changed enormously since then. The specific focus on employment advocate conduct, combined with pressure to reduce costs and timeframes, suggests that reform – whether operational or legislative – is a genuine prospect rather than a bureaucratic exercise.
We encourage employers, employees, and anyone with experience of the dispute resolution system to make a submission. The government has committed to using feedback to identify concrete improvements, and this is a rare opportunity for practitioners and parties with direct experience to shape the outcome.
If you would like assistance preparing a submission, or if you have questions about how the proposed reforms might affect your employment matters, please contact our team. Phone +64 3 211 0153.
Disclaimer: This article is general in nature and is not a substitute for legal advice. Please contact us if you have specific questions about employment disputes or the consultation process.