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“Brian,” the boss addresses him as he sits down at the boardroom table. “We need to have a chat about your future at XYZ Limited.” Brian’s face goes white. “This isn’t easy,” Brian’s boss continues in solemn tones, “so can we agree that this discussion is off the record?”

Brian wonders what his boss is asking.

Is he suggesting this conversation can never be mentioned again? What if Brian wants to get legal advice? And what happens if Brian refuses to agree to keep this chat “off the record”? Will his boss dismiss him? He obviously wants to hear what his boss has to say. But how should he respond to his boss’s request?

Plenty of New Zealand employers think the law is too “employee-friendly”.

They cite cases where employees were surely at fault, but came away with big awards because the employer stuffed up the dismissal process.

“How can that be fair?,” they wonder. They go on to assume that it doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong. Process is all that matters in employment law.

So they end up going through the motions of a “fair process” whenever they deal with their staff. But really they made up their mind from the start and nothing was going to persuade them otherwise.

I understand why employers feel this way sometimes. But I think its a real problem. Let me explain.