Gig/Platform Workers & Contractors: How do they fit in our legal framework?

Join us for a LEANZ in-person and online event hosted by Simpson Grierson in Auckland, where Maria Dew KC from Britomart Chambers and Ben Upton from Simpson Grierson will review the Court of Appeal decision that Uber drivers in New Zealand are employees and will explore other aspects of reform.

Wednesday 20th November, at Simpson Grierson Auckland (Level 27, 88 Shortland Street). Doors will open at 5.30 pm. The seminar proper will begin at 6 pm, finishing at 7 pm including some time for questions from attendees. There will then be time for some networking following the event.

Summary of the session:

This session will review the August 2024 Court of Appeal decision in Uber, which held that Uber drivers in New Zealand are employees, when they log on the Uber digital platform to work as a driver. This is a significant reversal of the widely held understanding that these workers were independent contractors.

In September 2024, the Government announced its proposal create a new exclusion from the test for employee status. This new gateway test, if enacted in 2025 will likely reverse the finding of the Court of Appeal for many gig and platform workers.

The Uber decision and the Government proposal demand us to rethink how we have historically classified “employee” and “contractor”. The challenge is to achieve certainty, that survives policy changes.

The session will go on to explore other aspects of possible reform. To include the recognition of ‘dependent contractors’ as a middle-ground between the employee / contractor divide, the development of the concept of ‘relational contracts’ at common law, where good faith obligations are implied into certain contractual relationships, and other possible areas for legislative change.

About our speakers:

Maria Dew KC

Maria practices at Britomart Chambers in Auckland, New Zealand. Her practice spans employment law, human rights, and professional misconduct matters.

Maria is regularly appointed as independent counsel in public and private sector investigations and reviews. In recent years, these appointments have included work for Crown Law, Health New Zealand| Te Whatu Ora, both the New Zealand National and Labour Partys’, national high performance sports organisations, MediaWorks, Lyttleton Port, banks, insurance companies and law firms.

Maria was appointed as a silk in 2018. She has previously served as the President of the New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture, for two years, 2023-2024 and Chair of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. Maria also practises as a mediator conducting commercial, employment and sports mediations.

Ben Upton

Ben is a commercial and banking litigation partner at Simpson Grierson. His interest in the topics he will discuss has arisen out of his pro-bono work within his firm and, since 2009, as adviser to contractor advocacy organisation, ProDrive.

His work in this area has involved assisting smaller contractors or groups of contractors in disputes with some large organisations, to include Goodman Fielder, Freightways and New Zealand Post.

Ben is otherwise a busy litigator with a broad banking, insolvency and commercial dispute practice. He also appears in various pacific island jurisdictions when complex disputes arise.

Details for online attendance:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89935676646?pwd=yTXbaVWtDEKt5mjsfYN7kaNb1G3Cfl.1

Meeting ID: 899 3567 6646
Passcode: 958496

The Zoom meeting will be open from 5:30 pm.

Host or Publisher LEANZ Wellington