Employer reaches out of court settlement with employees…

An employer has reached an agreement with three employees to settle an employment dispute in a confidential settlement.

Last year, the Employment Relations Authority upheld two of the employees’ personal grievance claims for unjustified dismissal. The ERA rejected the third employee’s personal grievance claim for unjustified dismissal on the basis that the employee was on good terms with her employer when her employment ended.

The ERA ordered the employer to pay the employees there months’ salary of the difference between their income when working for the employer and their new income.

The employer was required to pay one employee $8,850 and the other over $17,500.

The employer and the employees then appealed the ERA decision to the Employment Court and have since reached an out of Court settlement.

It common for many employment disputes to settle out of Court. Parties are often required to attend mediation before proceeding to Court and in many cases may reach a resolution before they even step into a Court room. Sometimes parties may be in the middle of Court proceedings when they reach agreement. Parties can settle a matter themselves at any time prior to the Judge making a decision.

Mikayla Turner

Employment Lawyer Wellington