Redeployment Obligations in New Zealand Redundancy: What Employers Must Do

Redundancy in New Zealand is not simply a matter of disestablishing a role and ending employment. Before a final decision is made, employers have an obligation to genuinely consider whether affected employees can be redeployed elsewhere in the organisation. Skipping this step — or treating it as a formality — is one of the most common reasons unjustified dismissal claims succeed even where the restructure is genuine.

This guide explains what the redeployment obligation requires, what counts as genuine consideration, how Part 6A transfers work, and how to document the process.

The Legal Basis for Redeployment Consideration

The ERA 2000 does not contain a single section that says "you must consider redeployment." The obligation flows from the good faith requirements of section 4, which require employers to be:

Active and constructive in maintaining the employment relationship

Responsive and communicative about matters relevant to employment

Genuinely engaged during consultation, not merely going through the motions

The Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court have consistently held that genuine consideration of alternatives to redundancy — including redeployment — is part of what good faith requires. An employer who makes a role redundant without considering whether the employee could be moved into another suitable role has not met the standard, regardless of the commercial justification for the restructure.

No absolute obligation to find a role

The obligation is to genuinely consider redeployment — not to guarantee it. If no suitable vacancy exists, the employer is not required to create one. But the consideration must be real, not performative.

The distinction matters: "We looked at all our current vacancies and there are none suitable" is defensible. "We didn't look because we knew there were no suitable roles" is not.

What Counts as a Redeployment Opportunity?

A redeployment opportunity is any role in the organisation that:

Is currently vacant, or is reasonably likely to become vacant in the near term

The affected employee could perform — either immediately or with reasonable training or upskilling

Is at a level that the employee could reasonably be expected to accept

Must the role be at the same level?

No. The employer is not required to offer a role at the same salary or level. But the offer must be reasonable. Offering a Chief Financial Officer a receptionist role as "redeployment" would not be treated as genuine consideration.

In practice, the ERA looks at whether the offer was genuinely made in good faith — whether there was a real attempt to find a suitable alternative, not just a token gesture.

Reasonably foreseeable vacancies

You are not limited to roles that are vacant right now. If you know that an employee is leaving next month and their role will not be disestablished, that is a reasonably foreseeable vacancy that should be considered.

Similarly, if the restructure itself is creating new roles, those roles should be considered as potential redeployment opportunities for affected employees — including through a fair selection process if multiple employees are competing for them.

What "Genuine Consideration" Actually Means

Genuine consideration means the employer:

Actively searches for vacancies before the final decision is made

Assesses whether the affected employee could fill each vacancy

Communicates identified opportunities to the employee during consultation

Gives the employee a real opportunity to apply or express interest

Interviews or assesses the employee for suitable roles where they have expressed interest

Makes a decision based on a fair assessment of the employee's capability

Genuine consideration does not mean:

A cursory check of the careers page

A process that is done after the decision to terminate has already been made

Offering roles that are clearly unsuitable and then treating rejection as evidence of the employee's unwillingness

A process where the outcome is predetermined regardless of the employee's interest

The Employment Relations Authority looks at the timing of the consideration and the quality of the engagement. Redeployment consideration that happens after termination has been confirmed is almost always found to be inadequate.

Part 6A: Automatic Transfer of Employment

Part 6A of the ERA 2000 applies when business or work transfers from one employer to another. This is a distinct situation from ordinary redundancy and has its own rules.

When Part 6A applies

Part 6A applies where:

A business or undertaking — or part of it — is sold, transferred, or contracted out

The work continues to be performed but by employees of a different employer

The work involves cleaning, catering, laundry, orderly services, caretaking, food services, grounds maintenance, or other specified types of work

Examples include: a company selling a business unit; a council contracting out its cleaning services to a facilities management company; a business changing the company that provides security services to its premises.

What Part 6A requires

Where Part 6A applies, incoming employees (those currently doing the work) have the right to transfer to the new employer on their existing terms and conditions. The incoming employer must:

Offer employment to each affected employee on terms no less favourable than their current terms

Recognise existing service for the purposes of entitlements

Recognise any applicable collective agreement

The outgoing employer must give the incoming employer certain information about the affected employees, including their current terms and conditions and the value of their accrued entitlements.

Opting out of Part 6A

Employees can choose not to transfer. If an employee declines the transfer offer, they may be entitled to a redundancy payment if their employment agreement provides for one — though note that NZ has no statutory redundancy entitlement and the amount depends entirely on what the employment agreement says.

Part 6A is complex and the interaction with different types of business transfers can be fact-specific. If you are selling a business or contracting out a function and are unsure whether Part 6A applies, get legal advice before proceeding.

The Redeployment Process in Practice

Step 1: Search before you finalise

The redeployment search must happen during the consultation period — before any final decision is communicated. A common timeline:

| Week | Activity |

|---|---|

| Week 1 | Issue consultation proposal, identify affected employees |

| Week 1–2 | Conduct redeployment search across the organisation |

| Week 1–2 | Communicate identified vacancies to affected employees |

| Week 2–3 | Employee consultation responses received |

| Week 3 | Consider responses and redeployment options |

| Week 3–4 | Final decision communicated |

Step 2: Communicate identified opportunities clearly

Redeployment vacancies should be shared with affected employees in writing during the consultation period. The communication should include:

The role title and a brief description

Location and hours

Salary range (if different from current role)

How the employee can express interest or apply

Do not simply post the role on your careers page and expect affected employees to find it. You have an active obligation to bring it to their attention.

Step 3: Conduct a genuine interview or assessment

If an affected employee expresses interest in a redeployment role, they must be given a genuine opportunity to be considered for it. This typically means an interview or competency assessment.

The assessment should be fair. The affected employee is not competing in an open market — they are an employee for whom you have a duty of good faith. The threshold for finding them suitable should not be set artificially high.

If the employee is assessed as not suitable, document why, using specific evidence of the capability gaps identified.

Step 4: Document every outcome

For every redeployment vacancy:

Record that it was identified and when

Record whether it was offered to or discussed with the affected employee

Record the employee's response

Record the outcome and the reason if redeployment did not occur

If the employee declines a genuine redeployment offer, record that too. An employee who refuses a reasonable redeployment offer may lose the right to claim unjustified dismissal — but only if the offer was genuinely reasonable and the refusal was genuinely voluntary.

When an Employee Refuses a Redeployment Offer

An employee is not required to accept a redeployment offer. Redundancy — including the right to any redundancy payment specified in the employment agreement — is not contingent on accepting redeployment.

However, if an employee refuses a reasonable offer of redeployment, the ERA may take that into account when assessing remedies for any unjustified dismissal claim. An unreasonable refusal to mitigate loss can reduce a remedy.

The key word is "reasonable." An offer that requires relocation without appropriate support, a significant pay cut, or substantially different working conditions is unlikely to be treated as a reasonable offer.

Documenting Redeployment Efforts: What to Keep

Your redeployment documentation should include:

[ ] A record of the vacancy search (who conducted it, when, what roles were identified)

[ ] Written communication to affected employees of identified vacancies

[ ] Written records of any expressions of interest from affected employees

[ ] Interview or assessment notes for any role where interest was expressed

[ ] Written explanation for each vacancy where the employee was assessed as not suitable

[ ] A record of the employee's final response (accepted, declined, or no suitable vacancy)

[ ] Confirmation that the redeployment process was completed before the final decision was communicated

This documentation is your evidence that the obligation was met. The burden of proving good faith sits with the employer — not the employee.

Common Mistakes

Treating redeployment as a formality. Running a nominal vacancy search and then proceeding with redundancy regardless is not genuine consideration. The ERA will look at whether the search was substantive.

Failing to identify new roles created by the restructure. If your restructure is creating new positions, affected employees should be considered for those roles before external advertising.

Not giving employees enough time to consider offers. An employee who is told about a redeployment role on Friday and asked to decide by Monday has not been given a reasonable opportunity to consider it.

Conflating redeployment with the selection process. Redeployment (moving to a different role) and selection (deciding which position in a pool is disestablished) are different processes with different rules. Running them together without clear structure creates confusion and risk.

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*Restructured tracks redeployment opportunities and outcomes for each affected employee as part of the restructure workflow — so nothing falls through the cracks and your documentation is always complete. See how it works or start free.*