Ministerial Inquiry into Employment Court Needed

Dunedin based CrestClean today called for a Ministerial Inquiry into the performance of the Employment Court of New Zealand.

“It is simply unacceptable for parties to have to wait for nearly a year to have a Judgement made by a Judge of the Employment Court, said Grant McLauchlan, Managing Director of Crest Commercial Cleaning Ltd.

CrestClean has been waiting for a decision in the matter of Doran v Crest Commercial Cleaning Ltd for over 52 weeks since the Employment Court and believes that the main reason for the delay is the poorly drafted and controversial Part 6A of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

“We have patiently waited for a Judgement of the Employment Court but believe something is seriously amiss when a Judge cannot make a decision – one way or the other,” said Mr McLauchlan.

“It is for this reason that we are calling for a Ministerial Inquiry into the performance of the Employment Court as we are aware there are a number of other cases where businesses are suffering as a result of the long wait for decisions to be made.”

“The Minister in charge of the Employment Court Chester Borrows should be concerned that extensive delays by the Court are costing businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars to address these issues – money that would be better spent growing businesses and employing people.”

“Unless the Minister steps in and launches an inquiry into the Employment Court, and attempts to find out how and why these delays are occurring, any hope of achieving the Minister’s commitment of providing better public services and value for money is nothing but a pipe dream,” Mr McLauchlan said.