Wendy Macphail Employment Law Services

In these rather uncertain times, many employers are considering restructuring their workforce for financial reasons.

If you are in this situation, you need to consider the recent Employment Court's decision in The Vice-Chancellor of Massey University v Wrigley.

In this case, the court ruled the employer university undertaking the restructuring process should have provided information to the dismissed employees about other candidates applying for new positions, as well as provided information in the minds of the selection panel members, to comply with the obligations of good faith.

In this case, the restructure made some lecturer positions redundant. Two of the dismissed lecturers, Wrigley and Kelly, were unsuccessful candidates for new positions arising out of the changes. Wrigley and Kelly asserted that the university had breached their good faith obligations under the Employment Relations Act 2000 as they did not have the opportunity to comment on the information about themselves and the other candidates.

Examples of the further information Wrigley and Kelly requested include: The selection panel's interview sheets for all candidates; assessment sheets for the successful candidates; a candidate summary ratings sheet; the panel's recommendations to the university; interviewer's handwritten notes; a memo provided to the selection panel from the HR department at the start of the process; and information in the minds of the selection panel.

The court accepted that much of the information requested was confidential, but that this was no good reason to withhold the information and that the university should have provided Wrigley and Kelly with the information.

This case means that in any proposal which may result in the disestablishment of an employee's role, employees may be entitled to a broader range of information than previously thought. For this reason, any employer considering restructuring would be wise to be thoroughly prepared before undertaking the process.

This article is intended as a point of reference and should not be relied on as a substitute for professional advice. Specialist advice should always
be sought in relation to any particular circumstances and no liability will be accepted for any losses incurred by those relying solely on this article.