Printed from https://fyi.org.nz/request/34973-employment-dispute-record-preservation-disclosure-and-search-controls on July 23, 2026 16:45

Employment Dispute Record Preservation, Disclosure and Search Controls

SPENCER JONES made this Official Information request to Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

Currently waiting for a response from Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, they must respond promptly and normally no later than (details and exceptions).

From: SPENCER JONES

Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,

Kia ora,

I request the following information under the Official Information Act 1982.

This request relates to the government-provided employment dispute resolution system, including Early Resolution, MBIE mediation services, and any policy or operational guidance relevant to employment relationship problems and personal grievances under the Employment Relations Act 2000.

Please provide:

1. Record preservation controls

All current policies, guidance, operational instructions, templates, training material or internal advice concerning whether employers are expected or required to preserve relevant records once any of the following arise:

* employment relationship problem;
* personal grievance;
* bullying or harassment complaint;
* discrimination or disability accommodation issue;
* protected disclosure or whistleblowing concern;
* alleged retaliation, victimisation, or disadvantage;
* medical incapacity or health-related performance concern.

2. Disclosure expectations before mediation

All policies, guidance, templates, or mediator instructions concerning whether parties are expected to exchange or identify relevant documents before mediation, including:

* employment agreement;
* complaint records;
* HR file notes;
* investigation records;
* meeting notes;
* performance records;
* medical incapacity records;
* emails or correspondence relied upon;
* any document schedule or index.

3. Missing-record / “not held” issues

All guidance provided to mediators or Early Resolution staff on how to manage disputes where one party says relevant records:

* do not exist;
* are not held;
* cannot be found;
* have been destroyed;
* were not retained;
* are held by a third party;
* are unavailable because of system migration or file loss.

4. Protected disclosure / personal grievance overlap

All policies, guidance or training material concerning employment disputes where a personal grievance overlaps with a protected disclosure, whistleblowing concern, or alleged retaliation.

Please include any guidance on whether mediators or Early Resolution staff are expected to ask whether alleged adverse action occurred after protected disclosure activity.

5. Bullying / harassment / retaliation tracking

Please provide any aggregated data held for the last five calendar years showing the number of employment disputes or mediation matters that involved:

* workplace bullying;
* harassment;
* retaliation;
* victimisation;
* protected disclosures;
* disability or reasonable accommodation;
* medical incapacity;
* employer failure to provide records.

I do not seek personal information about any individual party. Aggregated or anonymised data is sufficient.

6. Document schedules / search certification

Please provide any policy work, advice, briefings, consultation material, or internal analysis since 1 January 2020 concerning whether employers should be required to provide document schedules, search certificates, or evidence-preservation confirmation in employment disputes.

If any information is withheld, please identify the statutory ground relied upon and provide the reasons for withholding.

Kind Regards,
Spencer Jones

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SPENCER JONES left an annotation ()

Public interest note

This request is made in the context of MBIE’s 2026 consultation on the employment dispute system.

The purpose is to clarify whether the government-provided employment dispute resolution system has any existing policies, guidance, templates, training material, or internal advice dealing with record preservation, document disclosure, missing-record issues, protected disclosure / personal grievance overlap, and search certification.

The request does not seek personal information about any individual employment dispute. It is directed at system design.

A recurring issue in employment disputes is that the employer often controls the records needed to understand what occurred. This can include HR file notes, complaint records, investigation records, medical incapacity records, emails, performance records, meeting notes, and any record of protected disclosure, bullying, harassment, retaliation, disability accommodation, or victimisation concerns.

Where those records are not preserved, not disclosed, not searched for properly, or later said to be “not held”, the dispute process can become difficult to navigate and potentially unfair. The affected person may be left trying to prove matters that the employer was best placed to record, preserve, and disclose.

This request therefore asks a narrow public-administration question:

Before an employment dispute reaches mediation, the Employment Relations Authority, or court, what controls exist to ensure that relevant records are preserved, identified, searched for, and disclosed in a way that supports fair and efficient dispute resolution?

The answer will assist public understanding of whether current employment dispute processes contain adequate evidence-preservation and search-adequacy safeguards, particularly where disputes involve bullying, harassment, protected disclosures, retaliation, disability accommodation, medical incapacity, or personal grievances.

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From: Ministerials
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

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Kia ora Spencer Jones,
 
On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 26/06/2026 requesting, under the Official
Information Act 1982, the following:
 
I request the following information under the Official Information Act
1982.

This request relates to the government-provided employment dispute
resolution system, including Early Resolution, MBIE mediation services,
and any policy or operational guidance relevant to employment relationship
problems and personal grievances under the Employment Relations Act 2000.

Please provide:

1. Record preservation controls

All current policies, guidance, operational instructions, templates,
training material or internal advice concerning whether employers are
expected or required to preserve relevant records once any of the
following arise:

* employment relationship problem;
* personal grievance;
* bullying or harassment complaint;
* discrimination or disability accommodation issue;
* protected disclosure or whistleblowing concern;
* alleged retaliation, victimisation, or disadvantage;
* medical incapacity or health-related performance concern.

2. Disclosure expectations before mediation

All policies, guidance, templates, or mediator instructions concerning
whether parties are expected to exchange or identify relevant documents
before mediation, including:

* employment agreement;
* complaint records;
* HR file notes;
* investigation records;
* meeting notes;
* performance records;
* medical incapacity records;
* emails or correspondence relied upon;
* any document schedule or index.

3. Missing-record / “not held” issues

All guidance provided to mediators or Early Resolution staff on how to
manage disputes where one party says relevant records:

* do not exist;
* are not held;
* cannot be found;
* have been destroyed;
* were not retained;
* are held by a third party;
* are unavailable because of system migration or file loss.

4. Protected disclosure / personal grievance overlap

All policies, guidance or training material concerning employment disputes
where a personal grievance overlaps with a protected disclosure,
whistleblowing concern, or alleged retaliation.

Please include any guidance on whether mediators or Early Resolution staff
are expected to ask whether alleged adverse action occurred after
protected disclosure activity.

5. Bullying / harassment / retaliation tracking

Please provide any aggregated data held for the last five calendar years
showing the number of employment disputes or mediation matters that
involved:

* workplace bullying;
* harassment;
* retaliation;
* victimisation;
* protected disclosures;
* disability or reasonable accommodation;
* medical incapacity;
* employer failure to provide records.

I do not seek personal information about any individual party. Aggregated
or anonymised data is sufficient.

6. Document schedules / search certification

Please provide any policy work, advice, briefings, consultation material,
or internal analysis since 1 January 2020 concerning whether employers
should be required to provide document schedules, search certificates, or
evidence-preservation confirmation in employment disputes.

If any information is withheld, please identify the statutory ground
relied upon and provide the reasons for withholding.
 
We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible, and no
later than 27/07/2026, being 20 working days after the day your request
was received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will
notify you of an extension of that timeframe. If you have any enquiries
regarding your request feel free to contact us via email to
[1][MBIE request email].
 
Nāku noa, nā
Ministerial Services
Strategy and Assurance
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
15 Stout Street, Wellington 6011 |  P O Box 1473 Wellington 6140

References

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