Employment Relations Specialists

Practical Advice, Pragmatic Solutions

At Dunseath & Associates, we specialise in providing business leaders and HR professionals with expert employment relations and employment law advice. Whether you're facing disciplinary issues, personal grievances, dismissals, restructures, or need support with collective bargaining and union negotiations, we are here to help.

We take the time to understand your business, swiftly identifying solutions that are both effective and feasible. As licensed private investigators, we also conduct independent workplace investigations to ensure you can make fair and objective decisions. Additionally, we offer support to employees on a referral basis, ensuring a comprehensive approach to employment relations.

Client testimonials

"Andrea is a talented and pragmatic employee relations practitioner who works closely with stakeholders to identify sustainable commercial solutions. She utilises her legal training and extensive HR experience to provide the perfect balance between the legal and constructive employee engagement aspects of employee relations."

Sally B
Head of Employee Relations
"Andrea's value to my client’s businesses was measured by her capability to translate employee related issues into outcomes. Her commercial acumen combined with her comprehensive employment law knowledge and experience created solutions and approaches that achieved effective outcomes, with commercial sense applied. This capability is coupled with humour and humility rarely found. Andrea has sharp sense of business understanding and I regard her more than employment lawyer at the ‘bottom of the cliff’, her consultative strategic thinking and guidance is immensely valuable and highly regarded by myself and my clients. "

Amie A
People Director
"Andrea has assisted our group of companies over many years, providing very prompt and well considered legal advice. Our people are our greatest asset and Andrea takes care to ensure the company is well protected legally, but importantly also ensures the company makes well balanced decisions that align with our values and deliver a successful and pragmatic outcome. Andrea operates as an extension of our company, and I really value her advice. She has navigated many issues for us, and her legal skills and business intuition has served us extremely well."

Mark M
Group Chief Executive
"Andrea has exceptional knowledge of current employment law and how it translates to everyday activities in the work place. Her work rate is outstanding and she will willingly go the extra mile to ensure she fully understands her client’s needs. She is confident, provides clear and accurate advice based on meticulous research and is an extraordinarily valuable support service to call on for any organisation."

Peter B
GM Operations & Supply Chain
"I’ve worked with Andrea for a number of years and found that she has the ability to understand business needs and tailor a solution to suit every time. Her straight forward, honest and pragmatic approach makes working with her interesting and valuable, and with her drive and determination to deliver you know you will get the best result every time."

Sharon M
HR Consultant
"I have had the pleasure of knowing Andrea for over 20 years. She can quickly get to the root cause of an issue and help you identify the best strategy moving forward. What stands out for me working with Andrea is her ability to quickly understand your business and give sound and pragmatic advice."

Michelle Y
Senior People & Capability Business Partner
"Our HR went inhouse a couple of years back. I don’t have any formal background in HR or employment law and called on Andrea quite heavily early on to develop structures for the employment process. She had a meeting with us and talked through everything very clearly. She developed structures that made the whole process very effective and efficient. Importantly, Andrea is always there if we need to call for guidance. We really enjoy working with Andrea, she’s good at what she does and we achieve what we need."

Mike R
General Manager
"I have known Andrea for over twenty years, firstly as a colleague and then as my legal advisor. When Andrea advised she was setting up her business I was eager for her to become my legal advisor as she understood the dairy industry and how I operated. For me Andrea’s HR and legal experience make her invaluable to me as she brings her legal expertise with an understanding of the HR challenges I face. Andrea provides practicable advice sometimes offering a number of options to explore explaining the pros and cons of each which I really appreciate as I can then choose what suits my business context. I have high trust and confidence in Andrea and she has developed the same trust and confidence with my team."

Pier P
Head of People and Capability
"I cannot communicate adequately how much of a difference you made to this whole situation.... You have a wonderful mixture of both soft and firm skills which is rare. Thank you Andrea, "

Chris C
Employee client

Andrea Dunseath

Director & ER Specialist, LLB, BCA, AWI-CH

Andrea stands out in the field of employment relations with a unique blend of qualifications as an enrolled Barrister and Solicitor, as well as being a licensed private investigator.

Renowned for her quick understanding of client needs and priorities, Andrea leverages her extensive expertise in business and law, along with her previous experience as an in-house ER Manager at Fonterra and a comprehensive background in consulting, to bring a distinctive skill set to her clients.

Andrea’s associates also possess deep knowledge in employment relations, employment law and HR, ensuring tailored support that addresses the specific needs and challenges of each client.

Outside of her professional life, Andrea enjoys outdoor adventures with her family and friends, with skiing, biking, and camping among her favourite activities.

Andrea is a member of ELINZ, the Employment Law Institute of New Zealand and AWI, the Association of Workplace Investigators.

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Our Services

With a focus on delivering advice that is not only grounded in the law but also realistic and actionable for your business, we foster strong relationships, engage in meaningful conversations, and employ strategic problem-solving to help you navigate complex people issues and achieve lasting success.

Legal Compliance

Employment agreement drafting or review, policy drafting, advice on employment law compliance and holiday entitlements, as well as occupational health process including medical incapacity and drug & alcohol policy development and implementation.
People Strategy

Advice on formulating people strategies which link business outcomes with engagement and employment relations goals.
ER Advice & On-Site Support

Practical and pragmatic advice with performance management, disciplinary investigations, exit negotiations and settlement agreements, restructuring and redundancy, personal grievance management, representation at mediation and Authority hearings, as well as conducting independent investigations.
Unions & Collective Bargaining

Support with union engagement or consultation, bargaining preparation and strategies, bargaining advocacy, advice on potential industrial action and risk mitigation, advice on collective agreement interpretation and options to achieve business outcomes.
Training & Facilitation

Formulation and delivery of employment relations training that supports business needs, i.e. disciplinaries, managing poor performance, medical incapacity, bullying and harassment awareness and absenteeism.
Independent Investigations

Investigations to better understand workplace complaints or disputes, alleged workplace bullying, alleged employee misconduct, theft, conflicts of interest, and sexual harassment. Utmost discretion and professionalism is prioritised through each investigation at all times.