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Government Department Order Settlements

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Number 8 Workers’ Union of New Zealand HISTORIC Settlements with
Government Departments on Vaccine Mandates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

12 September 2025

The Number 8 Workers’ Union of New Zealand (N8WUNZ) and a courageous group of Government workers are proud to announce two landmark settlements in cases which had been before the Employment Relations Authority.

These settlements concluded nearly 2 years of legal battle against a large Government Department management’s interpretation of the Vaccination Orders. These settlements mark a significant victory for health and safety and worker rights. They serve as a powerful, implicit acknowledgment that vaccinations have no place in government (or any) workplaces. These settlements were only achieved through N8WUNZ’s relentless pursuit of justice.

Statement from N8 Union General Secretary:

“If it weren’t for Number 8 Workers’ Union and its members fighting back in 2021 to the present day, the vaccine mandates would never have been halted, and the settlements would never have happened.

Nothing can fully compensate workers for the harms suffered, but these settlements provide critical prospective relief and show the Rule Of Law is on our side. We have shown that the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 is a powerful tool to protect workers and businesses alike from this particular form of oppression; using ‘medicine’ in the workplace to force compliance is not going to be happening in the future.

These settlements represent years of volunteer work and grassroots union support. We have acheived a total of over 60 settlements in regards to Covid-19 response. Many union members withstood years of relentless assault by public servants determined to destroy workers rights and their protections under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, however the Number 8 Workers’ Union remains committed to worker safety. If it weren’t for quiet and brave New Zealanders willing to speak up at every level in an organisation, we might have found ourselves in a very different New Zealand today. We would do it all again, just harder and with the full force of a growing registered union behind us”.

Statement from N8 Union President:

“Our victory is a long-overdue confirmation of what we have asserted all along: COVID Orders were about detecting any Covid-19 risks arising out of work, the workplace or tasks arising in the workplace; COVID-19 was not a ‘workplace’ risk.¹ The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 never allowed for medical interventions against workers.

Although the Orders were addressed to the PCBU, for some reason, probably ‘mass hysteria’, the Orders were never read and acted upon as PCBUs were legally required to do. I can’t accept that employers would have consciously understood the Orders and yet still insisted that they had a right to terminate workers!

There was cynical manipulation and obfuscation wording in the Orders that saw PCBU everywhere decide that they had to ‘encourage’ workers to be vaccinated and then run straight to termination as their solution when the encouragement was resisted.

Our union has proudly held the line against an unprecedented attack on our most basic freedoms. The protections afforded by the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 have served us well.”

Facts About the Order Cases:

In 2022 and 2023 the N8WUNZ filed two cases in the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) for workers in the same Government Department who refused vaccination against Covid-19. One worker was terminated for not getting vaccinated in February 2022 and wanted her old job back. The ERA denied her request to have her reinstated to her old job in its determination.

The employer denied that this worker raised a personal grievance (PG) even though she sent an email to her manager the day after being terminated “as notification that I will be filling a Personal Grievance (PG)” which is well within the required 90 days for raising a personal grievance.

Denying that a worker has raised a personal grievance within 90 days at the ERA has been the knee-jerk reaction for many employers pushing back against personal grievances resulting from their vax mandates. Raising an issue within 90 days and filing at the ERA within 3 years are two very different and distinct events with different time limits. There appears to have been a heavy disconnect between speaking out about forced vaccination and raising grievances when it came to the Covid-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 (now repealed).

In any case, sacked workers have 6 years to raise breach of contract claims which are separate from personal grievance claims. No employment contracts for any of our union members contain forced vaccinations in the contract’s terms and conditions. Furthermore, vaccination and testing requirements at work are illegal as found in the case of Department of Labour v Idea Services Ltd (CRN 08020500068 4 November 2008).

In 2022 another worker was repeatedly threatened for several months with termination and other disadvantages such as being forced to take leave and harassment for not getting vaccinated. The worker raised a personal grievance in the course of employment, explaining that her employer had breached her contract, which did not include agreement to any “medical procedure such as vaccination”. The N8WUNZ filed a claim in the ERA in December 2022 for this worker.

In 2024 the ERA determined that ‘one or more conditions of her employment was affected to her disadvantage by [the Government Department’s] action in giving her notice of dismissal, extending it, declining her offer to undertake the specific work and asking her to take annual leave.’ Then the ERA however, determined that ‘no actionable personal grievance arose.‘

The N8WUNZ challenged these Employment Relations Authority determinations by filing in 2023 and 2024 in the Employment Court, and they culminated in settlements before reaching the Court.

The settlements set a critical precedent for decision makers and for the PCBU at this Government employer. All PCBU need to understand that they cannot use their obligations under the HSWA to push for vaccinations in exchange for jobs.

Costs to the Taxpayer

There have been exorbitant costs to the taxpayer for defending these cases – it’s other people’s money after all. The annual financial report 2021-2022 published on Oranga Tamariki’s website for example, cites over 72 personal grievances with an estimated liability of $515,000 total of tax payers money.² Not all cases will be related to vaccination termination but there is a definitive upswing in numbers of cases as compared to other years.

As of 19 April 2024 Health New Zealand has spent $272,000 of tax payers money responding to Covid-19 vaccine employment claims³.

We have not examined the books of other public bodies but the OIAs suggest that defending PGs brought by workers or other public funded bodies have cost the taxpayer and the ratepayer a lot of money.

Government agencies that pushed vaccine mandates – this list is not exhaustive.

According to responses to requests under the Official Information Act:

Oranga Tamariki terminated a total of 17 workers due to its vaccination policy.⁴

The Ministry of Social Development (formerly WINZ) issued termination notices to a total of 150 workers⁵ due to its vaccination policy.

The Inland Revenue Department made 120 staff work from home due to its vaccination policy.⁶

TVNZ terminated one unvaccinated worker.⁷

Auckland City Council says all vaccination records are deleted and it refused to share any staff termination numbers.⁸

Gisborne District Council terminated 11 unvaccinated workers and put 8 on paid leave due its vaccination policy.⁹

Schools around New Zealand terminated at least 225 registered teachers.¹⁰ Vaccine mandates in New Zealand schools have cost the taxpayer over $1.3 million in a relief support scheme with 236 applications for additional funding.¹¹ The costs of vaccine termination personal grievances has yet to be estimated.

Corrections NZ terminated 80 workers for not being vaccinated.¹²

Health New Zealand /Te Whatu Ora had 357 nurses, 26 doctors and 64 midwives who left before March 2022 due to vaccine mandates.¹³ More left with booster requirements in March 2022. Health New Zealand only lifted its pre-employment vaccination requirement on 19 December 2024 which was announced in its Leadership Bulletin.

Whilst employers do not admit legal liability in settlements, the terms of the Government worker settlements represent a tacit acknowledgment of the harm caused by vaccine mandates.

N8WUNZ’s success in securing these settlements highlights the strength of our legal strategy. Successful determinations and judgments in employment institutions show that employment and workplace law were always the way to go. This is a virtual no-brainer considering that public health and workplace health are two very different legal models.

N8WUNZ and its members will continue to stand strong and not succumb to political interference which other NZ unions appear to have succumbed to during the COVID-19 response. We know of no unions who stood against vaccinations in the workplace.

N8WUNZ extends its gratitude to the legal team, union members, and supporters who made these and other successful outcomes possible. We remain committed to protecting New Zealand workers using the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and the Employment Relations Act 2000.

We recognise that political manoeuvring and ideology were behind what happened but we will continue to put our faith in the Rule of Law rather than in political parties; read our statement of principle on our webpage and if you’re not already a member and agree with our approach sign up!

Please contact in**@*********rg.nz for further information

Foot notes & references:

¹ Page 6, National Federation of Independent Business et al v Dept of Labour, OSHA US Supreme Court, 13 January 2022 https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a244_hgci.pd