Dispute Resolution in the Employment Tribunal Part Two: Adjudication

Abstract

Adjudication under the Employment Contracts Act (the ECA or the Act) is synonymous with arbitration, and chosen to help emphasise the break from the arbitration-based industrial relations system that prevailed previously in New Zealand Many advocates will, by now, be acquainted with the difference between mediation and adjudication or arbitration. The process of adjudication before the Employment Tribunal is similar to the process which takes place before the Employment Court, or for that matter, the process which takes place before the District or High Courts. In adjudication, both parties put to the Tribunal argument and the evidence in support of that argument. The process of adjudication leads to a decision by the Employment Tribunal. The decision is legally binding on the parties unless appealed on an issue of fact or law to the Employment Court. This paper deals with the practicalities and points of procedure involved in adjudication before the Employment Tribunal.