The Supreme Court has found that cleaners at Massey University do have the right to negotiate redundancy entitlements, from a company that took over their contracts.
However, it says that doesn't include monetary compensation.
The cleaning contract was taken over by the company OCS in 2010.
The cleaners were then informed they had lost their jobs unless they accepted fewer hours, and worse terms and conditions.
The court said because there was no monetary provision in the cleaners' collective contract, they could seek non-monetary entitlements, such as an opportunity to retrain or be redeployed within the company.
