Maybe you were let go without a fair process. Maybe your final pay was wrong, your holiday pay never came, or you were pushed out after raising a concern. New Zealand gives every employee real protection — the right to a fair process before dismissal, the right to be paid correctly, and the right to challenge unfair treatment through a personal grievance — but the most important right runs on a tight clock: you generally have just 90 days to raise a personal grievance. You don't need money or a web form to find out where you stand. Get free, plain-English information about your situation, day or night. It's general legal information to help you act fast — not legal advice, and it creates no lawyer-client relationship. Legal Hotline is not a law firm.
Free legal information. Not legal advice. Available 24/7 across Bay of Plenty.
Write down the dates and the dollars before you cool off. Note your last day worked, the exact date of the action you're upset about (a dismissal, a demotion, a written warning, a missing payment), and roughly what you think you're owed — unpaid wages, holiday pay, or final pay. One clock is almost certainly already running: under the Employment Relations Act 2000 you generally have only 90 days from when the problem happened, or from when you first became aware of it, to raise a personal grievance with your employer (12 months for sexual harassment). Save your employment agreement, payslips, rosters, texts, emails and any dismissal letter to your personal phone or email now, before you lose access to a work account. Then get free information about which step comes first — usually free mediation through the government — and how many days you have left.
Here is what blindsides people. You can have a genuinely unfair dismissal — no real process, no chance to put your side, a decision that was clearly made before any meeting — and still lose the right to do anything about it, because a personal grievance must generally be raised with your employer within 90 days. The clock starts the day the problem happened, or the day you became aware of it, not the day you finally decided to act. After 90 days you can only proceed if your employer agrees (they rarely do) or if the Employment Relations Authority grants leave for "exceptional circumstances" under the Employment Relations Act 2000 — and that is a narrow, hard-to-meet exception, not a safety net. Sexual-harassment grievances get a longer 12-month window, but everything else is the tight 90 days. If you have been dismissed or treated unfairly at a Bay of Plenty workplace, do not sit on it. Get free information now and find out exactly how many days you have left.
If you'd rather start on your own, or you need free help and a referral, these are real, verified New Zealand resources — several based right here in the Bay of Plenty. Free information can point you to the right one, but here they are directly:
I was dismissed from my Bay of Plenty job and I don't think it was fair. What can I do?
In New Zealand an employer can only dismiss you for a genuine reason and must follow a fair and reasonable process to get there — so even a dismissal that sounds serious can be "unjustified" if the process was unfair. You challenge it with a personal grievance under the Employment Relations Act 2000, and the usual first step is free government mediation. But the deadline is tight: you generally have just 90 days to raise it. Get free information now and we'll help you work out how much time you have and what step comes first.
Isn't my job 'at-will' — can't they fire me for any reason?
No. New Zealand is not an at-will country. Under the Employment Relations Act 2000 an employer needs both a genuine reason and a fair, reasonable process before dismissing you. Skipping the process — no proper investigation, no real chance to respond, a decision made in advance — can make a dismissal unjustified on its own. To find out whether your dismissal might be challengeable, get free, plain-English information about your situation.
What exactly is a personal grievance?
It's the formal way an employee challenges unfair treatment under the Employment Relations Act 2000. The common grounds are unjustified dismissal, unjustified disadvantage (unfair treatment short of dismissal), discrimination, sexual or racial harassment, and being penalised for raising a protected concern such as health and safety. The key thing to know is the deadline — generally 90 days to raise it with your employer. Free information can help you tell which ground might fit your situation.
How long do I have to raise a personal grievance in New Zealand?
Generally just 90 days, counted from the day the problem happened or the day you became aware of it, whichever is later. Sexual-harassment grievances have a longer 12-month window since a 2023 amendment. After 90 days you can usually only proceed if your employer agrees or the Employment Relations Authority grants leave for "exceptional circumstances," which is a high bar. Don't guess at the maths — get free information and we'll help you work out the date.
My final pay or holiday pay looks wrong. Is that worth chasing?
Often yes. Under the Holidays Act 2003 your final pay, including any unused annual holidays, is due when your employment ends, and Holidays Act miscalculations are extremely common across New Zealand workplaces — so a wrong final pay is genuinely worth checking. Unpaid-wage and holiday-pay claims follow their own pathway, separate from the 90-day grievance clock. Get free information about what you might be owed and how to claim it.
What's the minimum wage I should be getting in the Bay of Plenty?
The minimum wage is national, so it's the same across the Bay of Plenty. The adult rate is $23.50 an hour from 1 April 2025, rising to $23.95 from 1 April 2026, set under the Minimum Wage Act 1983. There's a lower starting-out and training rate of $19.16. If you've been paid below the rate that applies to you, that's recoverable — get free information on how to raise it.
Do I have to go to court to sort out an employment problem?
Usually not. The standard first step in New Zealand is free mediation through the government's Employment Mediation Service (run by MBIE / Employment New Zealand), an informal and confidential session where a neutral mediator helps you and your employer try to settle. Many disputes resolve there. Only if mediation fails does it go to the Employment Relations Authority. Get free information about which path fits your situation before you do anything.
What could I actually get if my personal grievance succeeds?
Under section 123 of the Employment Relations Act 2000, the remedies include reinstatement to your job (the primary remedy where practicable), reimbursement of wages you lost because of an unjustified dismissal, and compensation for hurt, humiliation and injury to feelings. The amounts depend heavily on the facts and on whether your own conduct contributed. Get free information to understand what might realistically be on the table for you.
Where do I go for free help with an employment problem in the Bay of Plenty?
Baywide Community Law Service offers free legal help in Tauranga (63 Willow Street, 07 571 6812) and Whakatāne (Level 2, Niederer Plaza, 195 The Strand, 07 308 6817). The government's free Employment Mediation Service can be reached on 0800 20 90 20, your local Citizens Advice Bureau can point you in the right direction, and the New Zealand Law Society can help you find an employment lawyer. Free information can help you choose the right one for your problem.
I was injured at work. Is that a personal grievance?
Usually not directly. In New Zealand, work-related personal injuries are generally covered by ACC under the Accident Compensation Act 2001, rather than through the employment grievance process — and the trade-off is that you generally can't sue your employer for the injury itself. But if you were treated unfairly because of the injury or how it was handled, that could be a separate employment issue. Get free information to work out which path applies.
Does Legal Hotline represent me, and is this legal advice?
No. Legal Hotline is not a law firm, and what you get is general legal information — not legal advice — and it creates no lawyer-client relationship. What it does is help you understand your situation fast, flag the deadline that matters most (that 90-day clock), and point you to the right next step, whether that's free mediation, Baywide Community Law Service, or a New Zealand employment lawyer. It's free.
Are you a New Zealand-qualified employment lawyer serving the Bay of Plenty — Tauranga, Rotorua, Whakatāne and the wider region? We connect worried, time-pressured people facing unjustified dismissal, unjustified disadvantage, unpaid wages and holiday-pay problems, discrimination and harassment, with lawyers who can help. If you'd like to receive referrals as our network grows, get in touch about joining. (This is a path for lawyers; people who need help should simply use the free information line above.)
General legal information, not legal advice. We research every page from primary sources — legislation, the courts, and government legal-aid bodies — and check it for accuracy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at admin@platfirm.ai.
Whatever happened at your job — dismissed without a fair process, shorted on pay or holiday pay, pushed out for raising a concern — New Zealand law may be squarely on your side, but only if you act before the clock runs out, and a personal grievance generally has just a 90-day window. You don't need money, an email address, or a lawyer to find out where you stand. Get free, plain-English information about your Bay of Plenty situation: it's general legal information to help you move fast — not legal advice, and it creates no lawyer-client relationship. Legal Hotline is not a law firm. (Call our free phone line on 0800 461 100, any hour.) Find out where you stand before another day comes off the clock.
Free legal information. Not legal advice.