A personal grievance is a legal claim an employee or ex-employee can bring against an employer over a dismissal or unfair treatment at work.
In New Zealand, employees have 90 days to raise a personal grievance (or 12 months for sexual harassment claims), and employers have 14 days to respond. Grievances that reach the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) can cost employers close to $56,000 on average if they lose, and around $19,000 even if they win.
The best way to reduce the risk of personal grievance claims is to build strong, fair employment relationships: clear processes, good documentation, and getting expert HR advice early when a problem comes up, rather than after it has escalated or the relationship has broken down.
MyHR supports thousands of New Zealand businesses and thousands more individual employment relationships. In the past year, we've overseen over 1,000 disciplinary procedures and dozens of personal grievances, and we've never had a successful personal grievance case brought against an employment process we recommended to a client.
Here's what employers need to know about personal grievances.
Personal grievances are the legal mechanism for an employee or ex-employee to challenge a dismissal or other unfair or adverse treatment by their employer or the third party they do work for (in the case of a triangular employment relationship, e.g. working via a recruitment agency).
Personal grievances are the most common employment dispute in New Zealand - typically there are more than twice as many personal grievance applications as any other type of complaint to the ERA each year.
Employees can raise a personal grievance within 90 days of the incident occurring or coming to their attention. However, if the grievance is related to sexual harassment, employees have 12 months to raise the grievance. Employees can raise a personal grievance after these time limits, if the employer agrees or the ERA accepts the delay was due to exceptional circumstances.
Employees can raise the grievance verbally or in writing, but it must be clear what the complaint is and the reason(s) why the person believes they have a grievance.
Employees on a valid 90-day trial period cannot raise a claim for unjustifiable dismissal or unjustifiable disadvantage that relates to dismissal.
Dismissal rules for high-income earners: employees who earn above the high income threshold ($200,000 or more a year) are also unable to raise these dismissal grievances.
The threshold has applied to new employment relationships since 21 February 2026, and will extend to existing high-earning employees from 21 February 2027, unless they've agreed to opt in earlier.
Employers have 14 days to respond to a personal grievance claim.
The grievance claim can be settled at any time, by mutual agreement. The employee can also lodge a claim with the ERA at any stage (if they have raised the grievance with their employer, they have 3 years to lodge a claim with the ERA).
Find out more about the types of personal grievances and the process at employment.govt.nz.
The grounds for a personal grievance centre mostly around contentious or poorly-handled terminations (around 70% of claims are for unjustified dismissal), or treatment the employee felt was unfair or breached employment regulations, e.g. discrimination, sexual or racial harassment.
We regularly see personal grievance claims that arise from 3 key areas:
Dismissing someone without a valid reason, e.g. repeated misconduct, serious misconduct, persistent underperformance.
Not following fair process, e.g. not properly investigating an issue, failing to consult with the employee during disciplinary action, or not giving an employee a reasonable opportunity (and support) to improve their performance.
Not acting in good faith, e.g. not dealing with an issue the employee raised, demoting the employee or withdrawing work or support from them, giving them an unjustified warning. These sorts of actions often lead to constructive dismissal claims by an employee after they have resigned.
Note: Under changes to the Employment Relations Act from 21 February 2026, an employer’s actions can't be considered unjustifiable solely because of errors in the process followed, so long as the errors do not result in the employee being treated unfairly overall. The courts must also consider whether the employee obstructed the process or contributed to the situation, and to give more consideration to employee behaviour when awarding remedies.
Many personal grievances result from employers rushing through a procedure or not giving the employee a fair chance to put forward their side of the story. The employment relationship is often strained or has broken down entirely.
According to Employers and Manufacturers Association statistics, most incidents that spark personal grievances occur in the first 12 months of employment.
Attracting, screening, and hiring the right people, and providing a clear, structured onboarding experience will all help reduce the chance of having issues that could lead to a personal grievance. If both you and your employees know what is required and expected, communication is open and regular, and there are transparent processes for handling issues, there is far less chance an employee will feel they have no other option but to raise a personal grievance.
While a 90-day trial period offers some protection from grievance claims related to dismissal, the trial period itself must be valid and employers still need to meet all other conditions of employment, e.g. acting in good faith and providing minimum entitlements.
MyHR provides all the tools you need for effective recruitment campaigns that attract the best talent. Once you’ve found the right person, we can help kick-start the employment relationship with precise, legally-robust documentation, the perfect onboarding plan, and intuitive, self-service software that makes it easy to track and review employee performance from the outset.
Get more tips on how to avoid the risk of personal grievances.
If an employee or ex-employee raises a personal grievance, we recommend consulting HR or employment experts. Even if the claim appears unfounded or invalid, you need to respond properly.
You have 14 days to respond to the employee’s claim, so take time to get to the bottom of the issue by investigating and gathering evidence. Don’t take retaliatory action.
The onus is on the employee to clearly state what the issue was so if you feel they haven’t given enough information, seek clarification.
The employee will usually include the outcome they want, whether it is payment, reinstatement etc. Weigh it up from a business perspective. It may be better to settle the claim with a payment so you don’t waste unnecessary time, money, and energy on it. But you may decide to contest a claim, especially if you strongly believe you are right and want to stand up for your principles and values.
MyHR’s advisory team can provide expert guidance and planning advice. If there’s not enough detail (or the grievance was raised outside the statutory time period), the claim could well be invalid before it gets any further.
Once you are ready to respond, write back to the employee accepting or rejecting their claims and outline your side of the story.
If you accept their claims, offering to reinstate the person can be a good solution, wherever practicable. Short of that (the employment relationship may be too damaged), reimbursement for lost wages or compensation for hurt and humiliation are other options to consider.
If you don’t accept their complaint, the person may send you another letter pressing their case or they may invite you to attend mediation.
The best-case scenario is that they drop the claim. At worst, they will lodge a ‘statement of problem’ with the ERA.
You can also choose to go to mediation if you don’t think the employee’s claim stacks up.
The Employment Relations Act emphasises mediation in dealing with personal grievances and mediators can be accessed free (through MBIE) or hired from private providers.
Mediation gives both parties an opportunity to present and discuss their side of the story and to get help resolving issues from an objective professional. You don't need a lawyer but either party can take a representative, if they wish.
Mediators can only make binding recommendations if both parties agree.
It’s generally acknowledged that 90% of personal grievances get sorted out through mediation or a confidential settlement before they need resolution by the ERA or Employment Court.
Read our in-depth article on mediation to learn more.
If you don’t reach an agreement, the employee can choose to take it to the ERA. This is where things get expensive and time-consuming, and you will probably need legal representation.
Unlike mediators, the ERA can impose binding outcomes but either party can challenge the Authority’s ruling. From there, the case will go to the Employment Court (the final appellate court is the Court of Appeal).
If a claim does end up at the ERA, you should think about whether time or money (or your principles) is more important, as it may be best to reach a settlement with the complainant.
If you want to defend a personal grievance, we strongly recommend you get professional advice before going to the ERA.
Dealing with employment disputes and personal grievance claims can soak up a lot of time and resources. From investigating and responding to claims, to mediation or legal proceedings, you need the right sort of guidance.
With over a thousand New Zealand businesses and 15,500 employees on our books, MyHR supports a lot of employment relationships. Our powerful software and expert HR advice create a wraparound platform for employers, ensuring your people-management processes are clear and compliant and you have the backing of on-call HR professionals.
Things don’t always go as planned, however, and we know that despite the best of intentions, employment relations can turn sour. This is when detailed knowledge of the legal landscape and adhering to fair and reasonable process is crucial. Mistakes can be extremely costly.
In the past year, we’ve overseen more than 1,000 disciplinary procedures and dozens of personal grievances. We've never had a successful personal grievance case brought against an employment process we recommended to a client.
Even if you’ve already had a personal grievance raised against you, we can advise the best path forward as well as providing ongoing HR advice to build strong employment relationships and minimise your risks.
And with MyHR, you pay a fraction of the cost you would if you had to turn to employment lawyers or HR consultants for help.