Leighton Associates

Employment law and AML research and reporting
Te Rangahau ture Mahi me te tari Purongo
Demystifying employment law since 2019
 

Staff changes can be expensive and disruptive.  Depending on the job market at the time, the cost to an organisation of replacing an employee who resigns is usually significant. A 2022 HR Industry Benchmark Survey  gives a few figures: 40 days to fill a vacancy $24,000 to hire a new employee 24 days per year on training, or $10,000 per employee These figures are “average” but the real cost would vary significantly depending on the level of skill or seniority, the job market a

In Mackey v Shearing NZ Ltd   [2026] NZERA 146 : the Employment Relations Authority found that a modest settlement, along with an advocate’s direct fee invoice was valid. Because advocates are generally required to be GST registered, it is more cost-effective for both parties if an employer paying an agreed amount to make two separate payments – one to the employee and one to the advocate, and claim the GST back.  It also reduces the risk of bad debts, where the employee take

The New Zealand Employment Relations Authority has made a determination on The Estate of Samuel Keast v Playground Centre Ltd, in a grievance that was filed in February 2025 by Samuel’s sister, Serena, who has lived in Melbourne since 2007.   In July 2025 I went on the record as a lay employment advocate for the Estate and was then instructed by their father Harley, who is the Estate’s administrator. THE ESTATE OF SAMUEL KEAST v PLAYGROUND CENTRE LIMITED | Employment Relation

In 2019 the Leighton Associates blogsite was born of SLAPPs, but over time, we settled for simply blogging on interesting employment cases, mostly in New Zealand.  Kind of like what mainstream media do, but being a specialist blogsite we are unashamedly technical. We also followed the UK Post Office Scandal, even though the falsely prosecuted subpostmasters were technically in a franchise relationship with the parent company Post Office Ltd, not an employment one. One of our

However, six self-litigants have, including one in the Employment Court and one in the Employment Relations Authority. When we discovered Damien Charlotin’s AI legal hallucination database on 1 October 2025, there were only three cases; now there’s six, the same number as in Charlotin’s native France which has 13 times New Zealand’s population. Should we be hanging our heads in shame?  Not really, because per capita we compare reasonably favourably with Australia (60 cases i

Five years ago, we reported on an employment matter that was brewing, involving lay employment advocate Allan Halse (who specialises in workplace bullying) and Hamilton City Council which was his employer for six years until January 2014. Dragging up the ancient past   14 January 2021 “Hamilton City Council is suing former employee Allan Halse for allegedly breaching a non-disparagement clause in a settlement agreement. The original dispute officially ended on 14 February 201