Personal Grievances Arising from Redundancy: Life after Hale and the Employment Contracts Act 1991

Can an emp.loyer r.eorganise.the ·workplace and make employees redundant without any obligations other than thos.e specifically agreed upon? R.ed.undancy has received only limited statutory attention in New Zealand and legal rights and expectations have not always been clear. The ju4gments of.the T.abour Court and the Court of Appeal in regard to the Hale case highlighted the conflicting considerations operative in the.area and provided a useful guide to the current position. This article.examines the role of the concept.in personal grievances and offers comments on the significance of the Hale case and its implications for the future, taking account of.the new Employment Contracts Act 1991 regime. lntroducti~on The conflict inherent in the employer-employee relationship and the competing interests of the two parties to an employment contract are graphically illustrated in the dilemma involv·ed in redundancy situations and in the difficulty the law in New Zealand has had in providing any resolution to this dilemma. In recent years the massive numbers of redundancies occurring have exposed the reality of this dilemma. Unemployment has increased dramatically and the position of employees is particularly weak. Employers hav