An 18-year-old bar worker sacked for taking $12 of unclaimed pokie machine winnings as a tip has been awarded more than $13,000 compensation for being unfairly dismissed.

The Employment Relations Authority has awarded a man more than $16,000 after he was sacked for refusing to do a job which he thought was illegal.

Precarious work creates a group of people who are insecure in all senses - financial, self and social, writes Susan Guthrie and Gareth Morgan.

A teacher at one of New Zealand's most prestigious private boarding schools was sacked after a disagreement over grades descended into an drawn-out dispute.

Service and Food Workers Union lead organiser Len Richards told a conference launching the living wage at AUT University yesterday that Aucklanders needed $24 an hour to pay higher rents and other costs.

Parents of students attending Auckland's Diocesan School for Girls pay roughly one and a half times as much in fees as Ana Malolo takes home for cleaning the school.

A deer farm worker who was dismissed after more than 20 animals died from disease has been awarded more than $12,000.

An Indian father of two boys born here is facing deportation after being convicted of helping illegal migrants find work.

It would do no harm - and possibly a great deal of good - for New Zealand to know the minimum a person needs to be paid in this country to have a "living wage".

Providing New Zealanders with a living wage is not high on the Government's agenda and it is unlikely to support the campaign, Prime Minister John Key said today.

Former independent directors of failed construction group Mainzeal said they had full knowledge of the company's financial position at all times, refuting earlier media reports.

The Mainzeal receivership highlights once again the poor governance of the Richina Pacific group of companies.

Many of Mainzeal's workforce of 400 staff learned about the collapse of the company on Waitangi Day through the media.

Marking 50 years of work at the Hillside foundry, Roger Parsons yesterday poured the last KiwiRail cast on site before heading to his local for a beer.

A movie chain refusing to talk to a group of workers who are being let go today has found itself with "les miserables" in the flesh.

A hairdresser sacked by late night text was unjustifiably dismissed, says the Employment Relations Authority.

School staff are being told to brace themselves for the worst week of problems with the Novopay payroll system.