Get the right employment relations advice, right now
As New Zealand’s largest employment relations service provider, our consultants and specialists support you to get it right before it goes wrong. But if the moment of prevention is disappearing in the rear-view mirror, we offer mediation, representation, advice and resources.
Arm yourself with our online library of tools, templates, policies and guides that will help you make the right decision for your business.
Consultants for
the complex and contentious
Connect with our expert consultants and employment lawyers at Member-only rates. Investing upfront in expertise can prevent denting your reputation with the ERA.
Whatever your issue, call our AdviceLine team on 0800 300 362 and we’ll work with you to find the best solution.
Employment Relations Lawyers & Consultants
Our legal team can partner with your business and provide you with a full range of employment law and ER service at special Member-only rates. We can represent you during investigations and mediations, or in front of the ERA and Employment Court.
You will also have access to our library of over 250 free and paid resources at Member-only rates, including up-to-date policies, templates, and guides on everything from employment agreements, to leave and absenteeism, through to disciplinary issues.
Our experienced consulting team are here to help you with your workforce. Our consultants have multisectoral experience and can provide you with customised solutions across a range of ER and HR issues.
Ronda Tokona
David Browne
David Graham
Beverley Edwards
Ruthi Bommoju
Ronda Tokona
Senior Solicitor
Ronda brings a wealth of business and life experience, and a pragmatic and personal approach to handling all employment relations matters and finding constructive solutions to member businesses problems. She has represented employers and employees in a law firm, as a consultant, and for a union, the Association of University Staff at Otago University. Ronda was a Visiting Justice working for the Otago Corrections Facility for more than 10 years, and during her MBA acquired her own business - a franchise servicing small to medium sized businesses with their financial needs. Ronda is very well connected and has also spent significant time supporting the community through governance roles at both a local and national level, including the National Council for the Employment of Women, the Legal Aid Review Panel, the National Kaitiaki Group, and Te Kupeka Umaka Maori ki Araiteuru/KUMA (Southern Maori Business Network).
David Browne
Special Counsel
Dunedin-based employment law expert David is proud of the role he plays supporting businesses, especially with the ongoing employment issues as a result of the pandemic. Being named the Greenwood Roche New Zealand Private Sector In-House Lawyer of Year in 2021 was an acknowledgment of how he deals with the full gambit of Employment Relations issues to enable businesses to achieve their goals. An advocate for employers battling injustices, David previously had a career in education, publishing and the arts. He is a firm believer in the synergies between the arts and law, where creative approaches lead to strategies that result in the best outcome.
David Graham
Solicitor
As an Employee Advisor on the EMA’s AdviceLine, David got to use his skills in Employment Relations and Human Resources on a full range of employment issues. With that grounding and after being admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand he joined the Legal Team in 2023. David brings his analytical mind and the writing and media skills gained through his Bachelor of Arts Degree to help business members with drafting and reviewing employment agreements and policies, in particular. He has also been the editor of the well-read EMA Employer Bulletin, which includes invaluable case summaries and legal updates on employment law.
Beverley Edwards
Senior Solicitor
A self-confessed pragmatic problem solver, Beverley works collaboratively with businesses across the spectrum of contentious and non-contentious Employment Relations issues. A specialist in investigations, she assists members with the tricky processes of disciplinaries, performance, restructuring, and incapacity processes. Underpinning these contentious procedures, she drafts employment agreements and policies across many issues such as drug and alcohol testing, surveillance and social developments. She frequently represents clients in dispute resolution matters, including mediations and in the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court. An admitted solicitor in New Zealand and South Africa, in her previous life Beverley has prosecuted on behalf of the South African State and worked as Legal Counsel for a multi-national music conglomerate. She has been a law lecturer the past decade and is an ardent community law supporter.
Ruthi Bommoju
SeniorSolicitor
Ruthi was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in 2016 and holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Social Sciences degree (majoring in Political science and minoring in Sociology). Having been with the Legal Team for close to seven years, Ruthi has distinct and far-reaching insights into the employment challenges of member businesses. Ruthi helps them on all aspects of employment law, including restructures, managing personal grievances, Holidays Act compliance, disciplinary issues, to negotiated exits, medical incapacity, fair pay agreements, performance management and mediations. Ruthi’s involvement extends beyond her role within the Legal Team. She is an integral part of the team responsible for presenting at EMA member briefings and regularly shares her insights on EMA webinars. Her employment law knowledge and commercial acumen assists in achieving sound and pragmatic resolutions for members.
Ash Dixon
Clive Thomson
Jason Tuck
Mauro Barsi
Sarah Selwood
Ash Dixon
ER Consultant
Passionate about people and their businesses, Ash brings that enthusiasm to his training and facilitating. His aim is to help people in Kiwi companies big and small to grow their management capability and profitability. Ash’s background includes senior management, national sales management and finance roles in Australia and New Zealand over 20 years. He is also an experienced board director with governance experience across a wide range of sectors. Ash’s desire to impart his knowledge saw him move into training and facilitating to empower people to grow their businesses.
Clive Thomson
Collective Bargaining Specialist
Clive is passionate about achieving quality outcomes for businesses when they are dealing with Unions. As our main Collective Bargaining Specialist, he is currently the lead negotiator for more than 50 Collective Agreements across New Zealand. The significant majority of these are in private sector manufacturing. He has also led our Bay of Plenty and Central North Island HR/ER consulting team for the last 20 years. Clive is well respected for his work with businesses on their IR Strategy, and for his calm and constructive approach when dealing with Unions. This ensures that quality outcomes are delivered in often challenging situations.
Jason Tuck
ER/HR Consultant
Jason’s goal is to always develop ER and HR solutions that align with the values, strategic goals and direction of the businesses he works with to add value and provide successful and sustainable outcomes. With more than 30 years’ experience in New Zealand, he has held HR leadership roles at a range of large organisations across different sectors, including Ports of Auckland and Countdown, and has a broad range of knowledge and experience. He joined the EMA as a consultant in 2017 and is very familiar and comfortable in complex industrial relations environments and union negotiations and has a deep knowledge of all aspects of New Zealand employment law. Through the peak of the pandemic, he helped more than 50 businesses to restructure.
Mauro Barsi
ER/HR Consultant
Mauro is an experienced advocate for businesses and employers and a trusted advisor when you need it most. He brings a powerful mix of practical knowledge in Employment Relations and Human Resources, litigation experience; and time spent as a senior leader in both the public and private sectors, all to help resolve your issues quickly and effectively. Having worked in-house with organisations to manage growth and transformation projects, his broad business management knowledge means he brings an overarching approach to issues. Mauro helps businesses shape their organisations through strategy, bargaining, restructuring and the implementation of new people structures, through to managing personal grievances, investigations, and employment disputes.
Sarah Selwood
ER/HR Consultant
A Workplace Investigations certificate holder from the Association of Workplace and licensed workplace investigator, Sarah drills into every situation using her training and experience and by being independent and impartial. Behavioural and conduct-related issues as well as conflict and workplace disputes are where she shines, but it does not always have to get to that. A skilled, mediator, Sarah can also provide early intervention to resolve issues that arise before they develop into unresolvable conflict. When it comes to Employment Relations, Sarah can also help manage performance and develop leaders to deliver results for large or small businesses. She can step you through the requirements of restructuring to ensure you run a fair and complaint process. If it comes to it, she has an in-depth knowledge and experience in managing personal grievances for employers, including negotiating exits and representation at mediation.
Chris Longman
Lisa Oakley
Bruce Lotter
Russell Drake
Chris Longman
ER/HR Consultant
Chris is held in high regard for his ability to understand a business quickly, and to design bespoke solutions to their people needs. With a solid background of more than 15 years’ experience in both business partnering and organisational development in both the public and private sector, Chris enjoys helping companies with their People Strategies. This includes Union Relationships and Collective Bargaining, as well as leadership and performance coaching; employment investigations and disciplinary processes; personal grievances; conflict resolution; and organisational change and restructures. Also working as a facilitator for EMA Learning, Chris regularly delivers Human Resources and Employment Relations training both on public courses and in-house. He ensures attendees walk away feeling confident that they can manage processes in a fair and compliant manner, protecting themselves and their company from unnecessary risk. As a certified independent investigator, Tauranga-based Chris is also a trusted lead to navigate complex workplace matters such as bullying and harassment claims and other tricky workplace issues.
Lisa Oakley
ER/HR Consultant
Lisa’s approach to helping businesses with their needs is to be a true partner, collaboratively solving problems to ensure that leaders and organisations succeed. She is a past Board member and National Vice President of Human Resources Institute of NZ (HRNZ) with almost 20 years’ experience both in New Zealand – for large companies including Air New Zealand and Spark as well as not for profits – and in Australia. Community-focused, Lisa also thrives on working with small to medium-sized businesses and for purpose organisations. Lisa supports seamlessly with everything from People Strategy; Contracts and Policy; Organisational Design and Structure; Talent and Capability; Culture and Engagement; and Industrial and Employment Relations.
Bruce Lotter
ER/HR Consultant
Bruce takes a practical and hands-on approach to helping resolve conflict and finding solutions for member businesses. He has a wealth of Human Resources, Employment Relations, employment law and general management experience through executive management positions in medium-sized businesses, employer organisations and senior human resources roles for the New Zealand operations of a global corporate. His skills were honed as practising attorney for a large national law firm in South Africa. His collective bargaining there was for industries as diverse as aviation, banking, freight and transport operators, packaging, pharmaceutical, printing and print media. During 21 years In New Zealand, Bruce has worked with a wide range of sectors from public entities and Maori Trust organisations to call centres, distribution and manufacturing, where there are often multiple collective agreements being negotiated. Whether it is collective bargaining, personal grievances, mediation, restructuring or conducting investigations, Bruce approaches every matter with honesty and fairness.
Russell Drake
ER/HR Consultant
Russell is an experienced Employment Relations professional with more than 25 years’ experience providing consulting advice to clients across a wide range of industry sectors. In addition to this consulting background, Russell holds trade qualifications in the automotive sector, and has also held executive leadership positions in both the professional services and manufacturing sectors, enabling him to develop a broad business skill set and knowledge that now assists him in working with client organisations. Russell leads the EMA’s Waikato Based employment relations consulting practice supporting members in the resolution of a wide range of organisational matters from restructures to discipline processes, collective bargaining, drafting employment document and in the resolution of workplace disputes. Working across the broadest possible spectrum of Employment Relations, Russell acts as an advocate for the employer in forums, from the workplace to mediation, and in both the Employment Authority and Employment Court.
Myriam Heynen
Tarrin Terry
MURRAY BROADBELT
Toni Stanaway
Myriam Heynen
ER/HR Consultant
Passionate about imparting knowledge, in addition to her Human Resources and Employment Relations consulting, Myriam also designs and delivers training in those areas. Her life-long interest in businesses and how they operate began with her family’s printing firm at a young age. That grew with her formal education and experience in roles with a not-for-profit, Trustbank and Fisher and Paykel. Since 1998 Myriam has been contracting to businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Once of our longest-standing consultants, she joined the EMA in 2003. She helps members manage their people processes from recruitment to termination, including performance management, payroll and restructuring.
Tarrin Terry
ER/HR Consultant
Tarrin has been consulting for 10 years and is highly regarded for her prompt, efficient and excellent service for member businesses in the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato, whether it is with personal grievances, disciplinary investigations, mediation and change management and restructures. Her depth of knowledge having supported employers across a range of industries means she can easily identify the best process and actions needed to guide businesses through ‘sticky’ situations to reach the right outcomes quickly and effectively. Tarrin is also recognised for helping businesses with their staff handbooks, policies, job descriptions and contractual agreements tailored specifically for their operation and sector they work in. She has honed her expertise in senior Human Resources roles in New Zealand and overseas, across a range of sectors including manufacturing, forestry, and local government.
Murray Broadbelt
HR/ER Consultant
Whangārei-based Murray is a very experienced hand in both employment and industrial relations. What began as HR roles in sizeable manufacturing businesses has transformed over 35 years into speciality areas including collective bargaining, personal grievances, investigations and mediation. Murray combines his considerable ER skills with those of his broad HR background to get the best results. He leads a team of specialists for the EMA throughout Northland. While he and his team cover the general employment relations field, they have become well known for their expertise in drafting employment agreements and hands-on advice for restructuring businesses. Outside of the work, Murray has a governance role with Northland’s Rescue Helicopters.
Toni Stanaway
HR/ER Consultant
Toni has over 20 years senior leadership and HR experience across a wide range of industries and sectors. She combines her creativity, intuition, and strategic mind with a track record of delivering seamless, performance-driven solutions to member businesses. The results are practical, scalable, and innovative across a broad range of Human Resources and Employment Relations (ER) challenges, including business change/transformation, restructuring, planning and performance management, organisational development, workforce and experience development; and governance and leadership development. Toni believes that with the rate of change it is essential businesses are equipped with the right advice to help them navigate challenges and achieve success; with the big picture in mind. She also loves supporting leaders through tricky ER issues and assisting the development of individuals, leaders and teams. Toni also provides coaching, private mediation and workplace investigations services (Certified Private Investigator).
