Labour and employment law

Advising on complex labour and employment law projects locally and abroad, our EY Law teams support you throughout the evolution of your business, helping you to manage the people-related legal aspects of restructuring, mergers, takeovers, compliance and all types of business transformation.

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The team

Tori Sullivan

Tori Sullivan

EY Law New Zealand Leader

What EY Law can do for you

Multinational companies must constantly transform their business operations to compete on the world scene and meet their business and workforce objectives. Change today is the only constant.

Workforce issues are a significant challenge in multinational transformations, with each country having different labour and rapidly evolving employment laws.

Now more than ever, companies need to understand the ever-evolving employment landscape to manage cost and risk, proactively identify potential hurdles, and facilitate efficient, timely and agile application of global or regional projects.

Having both local and multijurisdictional experience and knowledge, we can assist with:

  • Day-to-day employment and industrial relations

    How we can help
    Whether you need assistance establishing your employment processes locally or overseas or want to understand how to meet your obligations to employees and Unions, our experienced lawyers can assist. 

    The outcome
    We provide practical local employment law advise tailored to your business needs and global processes.

     

  • Disputes, investigations and litigation

    How we can help
    If an employee has lodged a complaint or personal grievance, we can help you resolve the matter, conduct an independent investigation or attend mediation.  If the matter cannot be resolved, we can represent you before the Commission Authority or the Courts. 

    The outcome
    We have successful resolved a number disputes in a cost-efficient manner, including claims involving complex holiday pay matters, and bullying, harassment and discrimination allegations.

  • Health & safety

    How we can help
    In conjunction with EY’s Environment and Health & Safety team, we can help you with your Health & Safety Framework, including frameworks, policies, manuals and contracts and advise on the practical implications of the Health and Safety legislation as well as prosecutions.

    The outcome
    We work with employers to create a workplace culture where health and safety is woven into the fabric of an organisation. 

  • Incentives

    How we can help
    Together with EY’s Employment Taxes and Reward practices, we can assist you with your incentive strategy and design through to advise on the tax and regulatory implications and drafting.  We cover a range of incentives from employee share plans, cash-based schemes to salary sacrifice arrangements.

    The outcome
    We bring you an end-to-end service from design to implementation of your incentives.

  • Regulatory compliance

    How we can help
    We test your employment data, both from a contractual and minimum entitlements perspective to assess whether employees have been paid the correct amount and whether employees are properly classified. In addition, we test whether individuals should be classified as employees or contractors.  Where errors are identified, we can assist with remediation, employee communications and improving processes to reduce the likelihood of similar errors occurring in the future. We also assist clients dealing with regulators such as the Fair Work Ombudsman and regularly act as independent assessors and auditors under enforceable undertakings.

    The outcome
    We give employers and their Boards comfort about whether employees have received the amount due to them. 

  • Transactions

    How we can help
    We work with our colleagues across EY’s global Transaction Team to assist with due diligence and SPA negotiation including with       W & I Insurers, advise on terms for transferring employees, advise on day one integration issues, design new organisational structures and draft relevant employee communications.

    The outcome
    Working either as sole advisors or alongside EY’s Transaction Teams, we provide integrated due diligence support.  

  • Workforce advisory

    How we can help
    Working closely with EY’s People Advisory Services, we bring together local and multijurisdictional experience and knowledge to assist employers restructure their workforce.  We can assist you with feasibility assessments through to design and application, taking into account the legal requirements in each of the jurisdictions you operate in. 

    The outcome
    Our experienced lawyers will help you complete local and cross-border workforce transformations, in a timely and cost-efficient manner which meet your specific business needs.

EY Labour & employment law guide

Discover EY's Law guide on Labour and employment law challenges in business transformation.

Find out more

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EY Law Limited is an EY member firm based in New Zealand and operating globally, leveraging the EY network.
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