New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Unpaid leave

Legal area

Court

15 May 2006

RYAN V ACCIDENT COMPENSATION CORPORATION HC AK CIV 2005-404-5967

Citation

openlaw-5c787932_721c_4670_8fdf_6f97fb46c595.pdf
Court

High Court

The Court held that eligibility under s100(1)(a) and cl 32(1) requires the claimant to be actually engaged in employment for pecuniary gain at the time of the personal injury; a person on unpaid leave is not an 'earner' immediately before incapacity under the Act, and a mere subsisting employment contract or future entitlement to return does not suffice to establish earner status.
25 Jul 2005

Rankin v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2005] NZACC 226
Court

District Court

Unpaid leave does not constitute 'employment' under s6 so the appellant was not an earner at the time of injury; the 14‑day deeming extension under clause 43 had expired before the injury and, following authoritative precedent requiring a strict reading of 'immediately before', the appellant was not eligible for weekly compensation, so the appeal is dismissed.
22 Nov 2001

Wilks v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2001] NZACC 324
Court

District Court

The court held the appellant remained an "earner" despite being on unpaid leave because her contract subsisted; clause 9(3) expressly permits excluding full or part weeks of unpaid leave from the 52-week divisor when calculating weekly earnings, so the appellant is entitled to earnings-related compensation calculated by excluding unpaid weeks, yielding a weekly entitlement of $787.11.

New Zealand Case Law

RYAN V ACCIDENT COMPENSATION CORPORATION HC AK CIV 2005-404-5967

Rankin v Accident Compensation Corporation

Wilks v Accident Compensation Corporation