She worked regular hours on a set roster - but her contract said casual
She cleaned houses on a regular roster for over a year. Her employer still called it casual.
The Employment Court of New Zealand has dismissed a company’s challenge to a finding that its cleaner was a permanent part-time employee - not the casual worker the company claimed she was.
The decision, issued on October 12, 2026, upheld an earlier Employment Relations Authority determination that Da Hai Investment Limited unjustifiably dismissed and disadvantaged the worker.
The worker was employed as a cleaner and housekeeper from February 4, 2022, until the relationship ended in late May 2023. The company maintained throughout that she worked on a casual, on-call basis. She filed a grievance with the Authority arguing otherwise.
The Authority framed the central question simply: was the employment relationship genuinely casual, or was it permanent part-time? After examining the evidence, it found the latter. The company challenged that determination in the Employment Court, opting for a non-de novo hearing - meaning the Court worked from the Authority’s existing factual findings rather than rehearing the evidence.
The Authority had found the worker’s role involved regular hours. She was reliable in making herself available whenever required. Work was allocated to her over time in a way that created a reasonable expectation of ongoing, regular employment. A new manager gave...
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