On 18 July 2010 Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson announced changes to the Employment Relations Act which include promoting mediation by providing that the Employment Relations Authority gives priority to mediated cases and early mediation services without representation, prior to any formal mediation.  It is intended that early mediation will help the parties involved assess the risks involved prior to formal mediation and help bring faster resolutions at less cost.  Part of the raft of changes to employment law would be the development of a Code of Professional Conduct for employment representatives.

No detail has been released as to how the new law will work, but a bill to make the changes will come to Parliament shortly, where it will be referred to a select committee for public submissions.

AMINZ made submissions on changes to personal grievance provisions of the Employment Relations Act and is pleased to see some of it's submissions have been picked up by Government. We will keep a watching brief on developments and feed into the select committee process.