Robbie Bryant Email & Phone Number

I help clients (employers and employees) strategically navigate employment relations / workplace matters (contentious and non-contentious) through the provision of advice that is easy to understand, the right balance of fairness and commercial pragmatism, and personalised to the relevant circumstances. My work in the contentious space includes regular negotiated exits, frequent attendance at mediation, and appearances in the Employment Relations Authority. I have also recently made appearances in the Employment Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court. Clients can expect a strategic approach to litigation, thorough preparation, and clear advice about likely outcomes and costs . The advice I provide in the non-contentious arena is broad. I work with clients to provide them with clear and strategically sound advice that achieves the desired result through the provision of regular or one-off workshops, through to carefully guiding clients (employers and employees) through difficult workplace issues such as restructuring, labour inspectorate investigations, misappropriation of money, workplace bullying and everything in between. To keep up to date, I write regular articles for local, national, and Australasian publications, and attend, chair, or present seminars for national educational program providers. Two of my recent and notable cases are: 1. Ward v Concrete Structures Ltd [2020] EMPC 219. I acted for the employee in this Employment Court. Mr Ward succeeded in his claim of unjustified dismissal, and was awarded remedies consisting of $30,000 compensation, 16 months' pay, and money from an employee share scheme. The company sought leave to challenge the Employment Court’s judgment to the Court of Appeal, which was successfully resisted. 2. Alkazaz v Enterprise IT Limited (now Cognizant NZ Ltd). I acted for the company in this matter. Appearances were made in the Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court between 2017 and early 2023. The litigation arose primarily out of an application by the employee to reopen an authority investigation meeting . The employee also made a separate application to the Employment Court for leave to challenge an Employment Relations Authority determination out of time. There were many interlocutory applications, including successful applications by the company for security for costs and the setting aside of seven witness summonses. All substantive applications and most interlocutory applications were successfully resisted or pursued by the company.

Listed skills include Employment Law Specialist, Dispute Resolution, Drafting Agreements, Drafting Policies, and 11 others.