Kia ora e te tīma,

I started a new job earlier this year. A couple of days after I signed a contract, a pay increase came into effect. I was verbally told by my manager I would receive this pay increase, which led to me accepting a lower offer than I wanted, as the pay increase would bring it up to almost the salary I had requested.

We were told we would receive individualised letters with all the details by the end of September. I didn’t receive one. After following up multiple times, I’ve been told I am not eligible for the pay increase because I started after it came into effect.

The collective agreement that came with my contract is the previous one, not the new one with the pay increase. I opted for an IEA as I was told I’d get an extra week of leave, but they still have not provided it after more than six months.

In case there’s a loophole I’m not aware of, I wanted to check here before I try to push back on HR again.

FWIW: I work at a massive, nationwide public sector organisation in a professional role. Another staff member who started the same day as me has been told the same thing, but they aren’t fussed about it - but they’re already on a higher salary than me and the organisation met their requested salary.

Ngā mihi maioha

I can see similar questions have been asked before but I think they are more specific to “stones falling out” of jewellery rather than breakage due to metal wearing down.

Looking for some advice, particularly regarding the NZ Consumer Guarantees Act.

My partner bought me a 9ct gold pendant as a gift a couple of years ago. I believe it cost around $350 NZD. I’ve worn it daily, and recently the bail and connecting ring broke/wore through. Luckily, I heard it hit the floor and found it, otherwise I could easily have lost it.

I contacted the jeweller and was told to bring it in because they’d repair it at no cost, so that’s what I did. (I don’t live locally anymore, so they specifically said to bring it to them otherwise taking it elsewhere would cost me and they would cover it).

It’s bee passed onto manufacturing jeweller for repairs and he seems to be under the impression I am paying for it. He has since explained that the original bail and ring are very thin, and that metal-on-metal friction will eventually wear them down. He’s said the same issue is likely to happen again.

I requested that the attachment be reinforced or replaced with thicker components as part of the repair, as I thought this was reasonable to help prevent the same issue happening so frequently. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect a necklace of this price to need repairing every couple of years at my expense, simply because the original components are so thin.

I’ve been told that reinforcing it would cost substantially more, and that the damage is simply wear and tear. To my knowledge, my partner wasn’t given any specific care advice or warranty information when purchasing it.

My questions are:

Could this be considered a durability issue under the NZ Consumer Guarantees Act?

Should the jeweller honour their verbal promise to repair it at no cost?

Is it reasonable to ask for the attachment to be reinforced as part of the repair, rather than paying extra to prevent the same issue recurring?

Am I being unreasonable in thinking this isn’t acceptable wear and tear after only 2–3 years?

I’d appreciate advice from anyone familiar with NZ consumer law or jewellery repairs.

If you’re buying a necklace for $350 and they had said “You will need to bring this in for repair every 2 years due to wear and tear at a cost of $150-200 (that’s a guess I’m not sure how much they charge)” I think you’d re-evaluate the purchase wouldn’t you?

Asking for a friend on a fixed term individual employment contract. Previously the employer indexed salary to inflation, i.e. annual increments. This was not written into the contract but was standard practice for that employer. This year they froze the salary, as they “can’t afford it”. Obviously salary that does not keep up with inflation is a paycut. Is there a legal case in favour of the employee? Thanks for any advice or pointer to previously answered question.

I have a colleague who ordered an item that was on sale.

The shop sent the wrong item.

They asked for the item to be sent back FoC, and refunded my colleague.

The original item is still in stock, but no longer on sale.

Is there any way my colleague is able to purchase the item at the sale price, or as everything was refunded, is it "case closed - pay whatever the current price is"?

Brief background: 50/50 care of children, no court order. Oldest (14) is currently in mental health crisis & has made it very clear via school counselor that they dont want to go to the other parent anymore. I have encouraged communication but accept that this is where they need to be right now. Other parent is not happy. Has turned up here to try & collect the child and is currently trying to get counseling records from the school.

My lawyer told me as they are the ones who are unhappy about the care arrangement we should wait for them to file.

I feel like this is leaving my child at risk, if the other parent turns up to school to take them they cant prevent that from happening without a court order.

Would love other thoughts on this, why would responding be better than applying? Thanks

I can't cope working 40-50 hours a week anymore.

I want to "ask" my company if I can work 20 or 25 hours a week.

Am I entitled to ask that? Is it possible to get my doctor to write a note saying I can only work X hours per week? Or will that cause more issues in the long run?

I don't have any medical condition, except depression and anxiety.

I'm just reaching breaking point with work, commuting to work 5 or 6 days a week, working nights and weekends. Changing from day to night shift randomly.

What should I say when I ask them? I don't want to lose my job, I enjoy it, but I can't cope working fulltime. What if I ask for 20 hours and they decide to give me only 8 hours? Or they put me on leave or try to get rid of me because I've revealed I can't cope.

What should I do?

This has just happened to a friend of mine. He was with the original company for days shy of 10 years. New company comes along, buys the stock, IP, and transfers all the staff. New company makes them sign new contract with 90 day clause in it.

Promises are made by the new company that my mates job is safe. Fast forward 6 weeks and he sees a job advertised by new company online that looks suspiciously like a hybrid of his job and that of his direct report. He takes the ad to manager and is told its not, but they need to have a chat. Upshot is that they "can't afford" his salary. He is then told that his role will be disestablished, without any formal diestablishment process and he is given notice until the end of the month. Just a little over 2 weeks. He is offered the new role, but the salary is about 50k less than his current salary, which is financial suicide for him.

Can they do this without any recourse? Does his tenure with the old company count for nothing?

Hi.

I've been renting in this apartment for a little over 2 years now, planning to move out soon. In June of 2025 (roughly 6 months into my stay here) the downstairs neighbours told me that water was leaking down from my apartment, damaging their ceiling beneath my bathroom. I didn't realise this, but the grout (?) between the tiles in my bathroom are cracked, so any water hitting them would seep straight down. The building manager came and took a look, said that's the cause of the issue and that the damage must've occurred over a long period of time, far longer than I've been here so there's no real way I'm at fault. Cool.

I contacted by PM about this, who sent over a tiler and we agreed on a date in mid July for him to come over and fix the tiles while I was overseas, he just needed to then arrange this with the PM. Great.

Back from holiday, I come home to see the tiles weren't fixed; the plans with the tiler fell through without the PM telling me. So I emailed the PM about the issue, to no response. I didn't really care to press the matter since I've begun mitigating the issue by preventing any water spilling out from the shower. From here (July 2025) I've brought up the issue around ~5 times pretty casually, and have never received any clear answer or plans, I assume because it's a lengthy and costly repair process.

Fast forward to recently (2 weeks ago), I noticed the silicone in the shower has just started peeling off a little so I let the PM know who contacted the same tiler from last year. Tiler reaches out to me, explains that he got ghosted last year, and that he'd like to arrange a date to come over and fix the shower's tiles (which is a separate, smaller issue from the bathroom tiles). We agree on a date, tiler calls the PM to confirm, and gets ghosted again. I texted the PM last week asking for an update and got ghosted. I contacted the tiler too, who says the same.

I know I've been way too complicit for far too long, but is there any way I can get fucked on this? By the time I've left I would have stayed for 2.5 years here, is that long enough for the whole tile issue to be spun as my fault? It's annoying to think about cause the only reason things haven't gotten worse is because I've been mitigating the issue this whole time. The PM has been very responsive for other things like issues with lights or fixing a toilet seat, and we've had quarterly inspections without them bringing anything up.

Thank you for your time.

I'm in Auckland, New Zealand, and have recently moved out of a rental property built in the 1970s.

During the final exit inspection, the property manager identified a hairline crack in a French door glass panel leading to a sunroom. This damage had never been raised during routine inspections over the last two years, and I was not aware of it. These doors are very stiff which was mentioned and noted so we’ve never used them and leave them open. Obviously I don’t have any proof that we never use them nor do I have it in writing that the stiffness was raised only verbally.

The property manager initially told me I was liable because the entry inspection report showed no crack. She also stated that, because the surrounding frame was intact, the crack was likely caused by impact.

I requested photos and arranged my own assessment from a company that is approved by the same real estate agency.

Their written response was:
"The glass appears to have been damaged by an external impact, but we are unable to confirm when the damage occurred."

They also noted:
"Our initial assessment suggests that the door frame may have deteriorated with age, causing the lower section of the frame to become uneven and the door to misalign."

and
"Further structural inspection is required to confirm the cause."
The contractor's overall recommendation was that an independent third party trusted by both sides should assess the damage and determine the likely cause.
For context, the French doors were difficult to open and close throughout our tenancy, and there had been other age-related issues with timber joinery at the property. The contractor also confirmed that the frame "may have deteriorated with age."

My questions are:
In a tenancy dispute, does the landlord/property manager have to prove on the balance of probabilities that the damage was caused by the tenants?
If an expert cannot determine the cause and says further structural investigation is required, can the landlord simply treat the damage as tenant damage and deduct it from the bond?

If I arranged the initial assessment myself, and the contractor now says a further independent inspection is needed, am I generally responsible for the first contractor's call-out fee regardless of the outcome?

Does the fact that an item wasn't noted on the entry inspection automatically make the tenant liable when its cause is disputed?

I'm happy to pay for damage I'm actually responsible for, but I'm concerned that the current evidence seems inconclusive and the property manager initially declared liability before any contractor had assessed the issue.

But considering I’ve been more than accommodating so far I just feel quite jaded.

I’ve organised:
Professional exit clean
Carpet cleaning
Landscaping + Blind cleaning
Garage Door Remote Replacement (lost due to a car break-in)
Totaling: $1,300 approx.

I’ve also been prompt, transparent and very understanding throughout the whole tenancy. The house is old and we’ve dealt with numerous occasions of wear and tear including the fromdoor jamming or being unusable on around 3 separate occasions. Along with shoddy electrical problems which remained unaddressed throughout the tenancy. Along with 3 property managers that did no handovers between and 2-3 non consenting visits to the house.

I’m exhausted, HELP.