On 22 November 1995, the Employment Law Institute held its inaugural meeting in Auckland and passed a resolution that the society be incorporated.
The following day, Keith Leigh Peterson of Auckland, Employment Law Consultant, and member of the Institute, made an application for incorporation to the Registrar of Incorporated Societies.
Keith was supported in his application by 15 other members of the Institute. You might see some now well-known names and signatures here, including J Horn (then “retired judge”), W C Hodge (then “Law Lecturer”), and the late R Monaghan (then “Solicitor”).
The initial board of the Institute included some other now well-known names:
| Patron | Judge J R P Horn |
| Vice President | Hugh Fulton |
| Secretary | Brian Spong |
| Treasurer | Keith Peterson |
| Executive Members | Anne-Marie Hendra |
| Anna Fitzgibbon | |
| Peter Fenton | |
| Gary Pollak | |
| Philip Butler | |
| David Patten | |
| Gregory Peploe | |
| Grant Pratt |
The Institute was originally called the “Employment Law Institute” (and, after incorporation, the “Employment Law Institute Incorporated”). In 2010 the society underwent a further name change to the “Employment Law Institute of New Zealand Incorporated”. Over the years the Institute became colloquially known as “ELI”, and more recently as “ELINZ”.