Leighton Associates

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

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) recently found that a personal trainer was unjustifiably dismissed by Auckland City Council. This was reported by Stuff and Radio NZ. The link to the determination is here. ERA Member Matthew Piper recorded that Ilalio Solomona “started his own personal training business in 2019, with a small number of clients”. Solomona started working at the Birkenhead Pool and Leisure Centre, operated by Auckland City Council, in May 2022. Rober

A failing seven year old road freight company was put into liquidation by the Inland Revenue Department in May 2025 for failing to account for tax. The size of the hole is approximately $300,000 according to the Official Assignee’s first liquidator's report. A couple of months before Stland Contract Ltd was placed in liquidation (and we have no idea how to pronounce that name), Mr Shea, an employee of three months had raised personal grievances for unjustified dismissal and

A question I get a lot, usually from a creditor who already suspects the answer: "If the liquidator is paid first, how does anyone else get paid?" It's a fair question, and the honest answer concedes part of it. The liquidator is paid first. The costs of the liquidation come off the top. But paid first is a long way from paid everything. Creditors don't go unpaid because of the fee. They go unpaid because the company has failed owing more than it can pay. The fee pays fo

With company liquidations at a 15-year high, Leighton Associates expanded its scope of research to include insolvency law from the start of 2026. Contributions of several talented guest bloggers from the insolvency profession are in the links below: IRD debt approval is easy, but what does it cost? – Peter Drennan Ten years of basic insolvency stats – Keaton Pronk How do liquidators get paid when there is no money left in the company? – Joshua Pietras What happens to fines w

Nine years. That's how long Lex Greensill has agreed to be banned from running a UK company. The Insolvency Service announced it on 4 June. The ban takes effect on 23 June 2026 and runs to 2035. Greensill Capital collapsed in 2021 owing more than £1.6 billion. The consequences have finally landed on the man whose name was on the door. The basis of the ban is not fraud - it's a breach of the director's duty under section 174 of the Companies Act - to exercise reasonable care

(UPDATED) Stuff beat us to this story, but we prefer to seek comment from both parties. He moved to Invercargill for the job. Now he must pay back $21,000 | Stuff (7 June 2026) By the way, that’s queen consort of France Marie Antoinette in the image inset. When told the peasants had no bread because of a famine, she was believed to have said “Qu’ils mangent de la Brioche” (Let them eat cake) which didn’t go down well and may have led to the 1789 French Revolution. We'll ex