Legal Project Management Plan & Checklist
Purpose of this Guide: Use this guide when an employee in New Zealand has been underpaid their contractual wages, overtime, or holiday leave entitlements. This plan is designed for legal practitioners and advocates representing employees to recover unpaid arrears and statutory leave pay. It provides a complete workflow from the initial client interview and auditing payroll history through to direct negotiation, mandatory mediation, filing in the Employment Relations Authority, and final enforcement.
Jurisdiction: New Zealand Employment Relations Authority (national registries). This parent plan covers the standard wage and leave recovery pathway. Subsequent director joinder actions or challenges in the Employment Court are covered in the forks below.
The Process at a Glance: The process begins with verifying the client's status as an employee and calculating the six-year statutory limitation date. The practitioner drafts and serves a formal request for historical wages, time, and leave records. Once records are received, the practitioner performs complex Holidays Act calculations to determine average weekly earnings and ordinary weekly pay. The practitioner then files a mediation request and participates in MBIE mediation to attempt a binding settlement. If mediation is unsuccessful, the practitioner files a Statement of Problem and supporting evidence in the Employment Relations Authority, representing the client at a formal Investigation Meeting to obtain a binding determination.
Use this plan when the employer company is in liquidation, receivership, or has been struck off the register, and the employee seeks to recover unpaid wage and holiday pay arrears directly from the directors or involved officers. This guide is used by practitioners to establish personal liability for statutory breaches and secure recovery from personal assets.
Use this plan when a party is dissatisfied with a determination issued by the Employment Relations Authority regarding wage and holiday pay arrears and wishes to challenge that determination de novo in the Employment Court. This guide is used by solicitors to navigate the formal appellate litigation track, file pleadings, and argue the challenge before a Judge.
Key Legislation and Case Law: Employment Relations Act 2000 - s 6 (employee definition); s 130 (wages and time records); s 131 (arrears recovery action); s 135 (statutory penalties); s 142 (controlling third party joinder); s 161 (exclusive jurisdiction). Holidays Act 2003 - s 8 (ordinary weekly pay); s 9 (relevant daily pay); s 9A (average daily pay); s 16 (annual holiday entitlement); s 21 (greater of OWP or AWE calculation rule); s 28 (PAYG restrictions); s 75 (penalties); s 77 (arrears recovery); s 81 (holiday and leave records); s 83 (evidentiary presumption). Minimum Wage Act 1983 - s 11 (minimum wage recovery). Crimes Act 1961 - s 220AA (criminal wage theft). Key cases: [PBO Ltd v Da Cruz [2005] 1 ERNZ 808](https://www.employmentcourt.govt.nz/) on costs daily tariffs and Calderbank uplift principles; [Southern Taxis Ltd v A Labour Inspector [2020] NZEmpC 63](https://www.employmentcourt.govt.nz/) confirming control and integration tests for contractor gateway assessments.
* Disclaimer: We're nobody's lawyer, because we aren't lawyers. You are, so you know better than to take legal advice from an app. We also aren't accountants or dog trainers - just digital spirit guides taking zero liability for any of this. This site exists to gather the collective knowledge of practitioners like you. Verify everything and submit your feedback on the Wage and Holiday Pay Recovery (Applicant) matter plan to improve the playbook. THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, it's a request for input.
This legal matter plan provides a structured workflow for Employment Law cases, outlining the standard DISPUTE_LITIGATION process. Utilize these tracking templates to manage your legal cases efficiently.
| Field | Token | Type | Required | Defined in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matter(4) | ||||
| Matter numberⓘ | matter.matterNumber | text | Required | inheritedmatter-core |
| Matter title | matter.title | text | - | inheritedmatter-core |
| Matter typeⓘ | matter.matterType | text | - | inheritedmatter-core |
| Matter status | matter.status | text | - | inheritedmatter-core |
| Client(1) | ||||
| Client name | matter.clientName | text | Required | inheritedmatter-core |
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