Working group aims to strengthen public confidence in the employment disputes system
The Law Association of New Zealand (TLANZ) is establishing a new working group to develop proposals for regulating employment advocates, an industry that has operated without mandatory oversight for more than two decades.
The initiative, led by the association's employment law committee, will bring together representatives from across the employment sector to develop a regulatory framework for employment advocates. The committee expects to hold its first meeting within weeks and plans to present a framework to ministers within months.
"This is an area that's been crying out for legislative reform for the last 26 years, since the Employment Relations Act came into force", employment law committee convenor Catherine Stewart said in a statement. She said an extensive industry of employment advocates had emerged during that time without effective oversight. "It's unmanaged, it's unfettered".
Stewart said the Employment Relations Act does not require employment advocates to hold any qualifications, experience or formal training. As a result, anyone can represent employers or employees in employment disputes without meeting mandatory professional standards.
"Anyone can call themselves an employment advocate. There's a loophole in the Employment Relations Act which leaves the public exposed", Stewart said.
She pointed to long-standing concerns about the quality of representation, excessive fees and the conduct of some advocates. She said many clients mistakenly believed their representative was a lawyer and only discovered otherwise after receiving poor advice or representation.
"There have been many situations where clients have suffered through poor representation and feel misled", Stewart said.
The Employment Law Institute of New Zealand, which represents employment advocates, has agreed to participate in the working group alongside several unions. The committee also plans to invite additional professional organisations and other sector stakeholders to join the process.
Stewart said the absence of regulation had undermined public confidence in employment law and the employment disputes resolution process.
"Clients come to us devastated because they thought they were being represented by a lawyer", she said. "It's eroding public confidence in employment law and in the disputes resolution process. This is about giving a sense of justice to people and making our jurisdiction fair and reasonable".
She added that many employment advocates also supported stronger regulation because negative publicity surrounding the conduct of some practitioners had damaged the profession's reputation as a whole.
TLANZ chief executive Clayton Kimpton said the employment law committee was well placed to lead the initiative because of its experience and strong connections across the sector.
Kimpton rejected suggestions that the proposal sought to protect lawyers from competition. Instead, he said the working group aimed to protect the public from rogue advocates and improve the efficiency of tribunal and court processes, thereby reducing costs for people involved in employment disputes.
The working group's work remains separate from workplace relations minister Brooke van Velden's consultation on the broader employment disputes framework, which also addresses advocate conduct.
