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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this report is to examine personal grievances mediated at the Department of Labour, the characteristics of the parties and factors affecting the outcome of these mediations. This information should enable the Department of Labour to provide more effective advice on the policy framework surrounding personal grievances.
This report is based on returns from 312 mediations conducted during the five weeks between 17th July and 18th August 2006. The overall response rate was 86%. The survey was conducted in a way that would not enable the identification of any parties.
The most common issues leading to personal grievance claims during this time were allegations of unjustified dismissal, unjustifiable action, constructive dismissal and redundancy.[1]
The typical profile of an applicant was a New Zealand European over 25 years of age who worked full time on a permanent contract, and had been in the employment relationship for between 1-4 years at the time of the mediation.
Maori applicants and those from small and medium sized organisations were over-represented in the survey numbers compared with their numbers in the overall population.
Sixty two percent of personal grievances were settled at mediation and of these 51% resulted in financial settlements. The most common settlement amount was over $2000 and up to $5000 (24.9%). Other common components of settlement included certificates of service, legal costs, references, and resignation.
Most applicants (88.8%) and more than half of the respondents (60.7%) used some form of representation, with lawyers being the most common representative for both. Applicants represented by a lawyer received a higher financial component of settlement than those using other forms of representation. However, the level of settlement is likely to be affected by the level of an applicant's salary or wages.
Small and medium sized organisations (those with fewer than 20 employees) in the sample were more likely to have personal grievance claims taken against them within the first 1-6 months of an applicant's employment. Conversely, larger organisations of fifty or more employees were more likely to have personal grievances taken against them when the applicant had been employed for more than one year.
Large organisations of 100 or more employees were more likely to have personal grievances of unjustifiable action taken against them, while small organisations were more likely to face unjustified dismissal claims.
Claims of unjustifiable action were more likely to be made by employees employed for five years or more, and personal grievances of unjustified dismissal were more likely to be made by applicants employed for nine months or less.
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