A lawyer says the disclosure of information such as bank account details in employment disputes will become a regular occurrence following a decision by the Employment Relations Authority.
The authority has ruled a former Air New Zealand employee should hand over bank records and copies of Facebook pages to verify whether she was misusing sick leave.
Gina Kensington took her case to the authority and is asking for reinstatement to her job at Air New Zealand. She argued she took sick leave to care for her ill sister, however the airline demanded she disclose personal information to prove it.
Employment lawyer Andrew Scott-Howman says it's not the first time the authority has had access to Facebook but says this case goes further.
"I'm not aware of a case that's asked for bank account details quite like this. But it's certainly not a precedent in that the authority's always had this power.
"Now that there's an indication the authority will do this, more lawyers will ask the authority to do it more regularly."
The case is still before the authority.
