Getting to the heart of restructures – doing it right is not simply a “tick box” exercise.

With many NZ employers still grappling with adverse Covid-19-related economic and staffing issues, and if economists are to be believed, a recession on the horizon, employers may find themselves needing to restructure.

While redundancies can be an outcome of a restructure – that does not always have to be the case. Contrary to what you may expect, a restructure process should not be a “tick box” exercise either. The obligations in terms of good faith consultation and looking for outcomes short of redundancy are real – and so often overlooked where employers are fixated on the outcome and/or not taking legal advice. These employers also miss a trick – as with an open mind and expert guidance – creative solutions can be found which allow the employer to meet its needs, but without automatically leaping to redundancies (and so often, personal grievance claims as a result).