Employment Relations Authority Evidence, Disclosure, Delay and Cost Issues
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 information under the Official Information Act 1982 concerning evidence management, missing records, disclosure issues, delay and cost within the Employment Relations Authority process.
Please provide:
1. Any policy, guidance, practice note, training material or internal instruction given to Employment Relations Authority support staff or relevant MBIE staff concerning:
* document bundles;
* disclosure of relevant records;
* document schedules;
* late disclosure;
* missing records;
* employer-controlled records;
* records said not to exist or not be held;
* records destroyed or unavailable;
* evidence held by third parties.
2. Any aggregated data held for the last five calendar years showing:
* average time from application to determination;
* number of matters involving adjournment or delay because of disclosure, document-bundle, missing-record, or evidence-completeness issues;
* number of matters involving bullying, harassment, retaliation, discrimination, disability accommodation, medical incapacity, or protected disclosure issues, where such categories are recorded;
* number of matters involving self-represented applicants;
* number of matters where costs were awarded;
* average or median costs awarded, where recorded.
3. Any advice, briefing, review, evaluation, policy paper, operational review, or consultation material since 1 January 2020 concerning whether employment dispute processes are being delayed or made more costly by:
* incomplete document disclosure;
* poor employer recordkeeping;
* lack of early evidence preservation;
* lack of search certification;
* parties entering mediation or Authority processes without the relevant records.
4. Any material held concerning options for reform, including whether parties should be required to provide:
* early document schedules;
* preservation notices;
* search certificates;
* pre-mediation disclosure;
* adverse inference or procedural consequences where records are missing because of the record holder’s failure to preserve them.
I do not seek personal information about any individual case. Aggregated, anonymised, or policy-level material is sufficient.
If any information is withheld, please identify the statutory ground relied upon and provide the reasons for withholding.
Kind regards,
Spencer Jones
From: Ministerials
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
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 information under the Official Information Act 1982 concerning
evidence management, missing records, disclosure issues, delay and cost
within the Employment Relations Authority process.
Please provide:
1. Any policy, guidance, practice note, training material or internal
instruction given to Employment Relations Authority support staff or
relevant MBIE staff concerning:
* document bundles;
* disclosure of relevant records;
* document schedules;
* late disclosure;
* missing records;
* employer-controlled records;
* records said not to exist or not be held;
* records destroyed or unavailable;
* evidence held by third parties.
2. Any aggregated data held for the last five calendar years showing:
* average time from application to determination;
* number of matters involving adjournment or delay because of disclosure,
document-bundle, missing-record, or evidence-completeness issues;
* number of matters involving bullying, harassment, retaliation,
discrimination, disability accommodation, medical incapacity, or protected
disclosure issues, where such categories are recorded;
* number of matters involving self-represented applicants;
* number of matters where costs were awarded;
* average or median costs awarded, where recorded.
3. Any advice, briefing, review, evaluation, policy paper, operational
review, or consultation material since 1 January 2020 concerning whether
employment dispute processes are being delayed or made more costly by:
* incomplete document disclosure;
* poor employer recordkeeping;
* lack of early evidence preservation;
* lack of search certification;
* parties entering mediation or Authority processes without the relevant
records.
4. Any material held concerning options for reform, including whether
parties should be required to provide:
* early document schedules;
* preservation notices;
* search certificates;
* pre-mediation disclosure;
* adverse inference or procedural consequences where records are missing
because of the record holder’s failure to preserve them.
I do not seek personal information about any individual case. Aggregated,
anonymised, or policy-level material is sufficient.
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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1. mailto:[MBIE request email]
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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 of this request is to clarify what information MBIE holds about evidence management, disclosure, missing records, delay, cost, and document-bundle issues within the Employment Relations Authority process.
The request does not seek personal information about any individual case. It asks for policy-level, aggregated, anonymised, or operational material only.
The public interest is straightforward. The Employment Relations Authority is intended to determine employment relationship problems by looking into the facts and deciding matters on their merits. That function depends on the availability, completeness, and reliability of the evidence before it.
Where relevant records are missing, disclosed late, controlled by one party, held by third parties, destroyed, unavailable, or not properly identified, the Authority process can become slower, more expensive, and potentially less fair. This may particularly affect self-represented applicants, workers with limited resources, and people dealing with bullying, harassment, retaliation, protected disclosure, disability accommodation, or medical incapacity issues.
This request therefore seeks to understand whether MBIE or the Authority holds guidance, data, reviews, or reform material about:
* document bundles;
* disclosure of relevant records;
* late disclosure;
* missing or destroyed records;
* employer-controlled evidence;
* delays caused by evidence-completeness issues;
* self-represented applicants;
* costs awarded;
* and possible reforms such as early document schedules, preservation notices, search certificates, pre-mediation disclosure, or procedural consequences where records are missing because the record holder failed to preserve them.
The wider policy question is whether employment disputes can be resolved quickly, affordably, and fairly if the system does not first ensure that relevant records are preserved, identified, disclosed, and capable of being tested.
The response to this request may assist public understanding of whether evidence and disclosure problems are contributing to delay, cost, or unfairness within the formal employment dispute system.
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