New Zealand Court Ruling on Collective Employment Agreement Negotiations

New Zealand’s Employment Court has issued a judgment for the first time since the introduction of the law removing the requirement for parties in collective employment agreement negotiations to conclude their negotiations: First Union v Jacks Hardware and Timber Limited [2015] NZEmpC 142. This is one of the first cases to address, authoritatively, the interpretation and application of the law and provides a helpful overview of the legislative background.