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Child Support Act 1991

Automatic deductions - Offences and penalties

171: Offence to prejudice employees because of financial support liability

You could also call this:

"It's against the law for employers to treat workers badly because of child support payments"

You need to know about a law that protects people who owe child support money or have money taken from their pay for child support. This law says that employers can't treat these people unfairly.

If you're an employer, you're not allowed to do these things just because someone owes child support or has money taken from their pay for it:

You can't refuse to give someone a job or pay them. You can't fire someone or threaten to fire them. You can't stop paying someone or threaten to stop. You can't make their job worse or threaten to do so. You can't bully them, force them to do things, make them pay fines, or punish them in other ways.

If an employer is taken to court for doing these things, they have to prove they didn't do it because of the person's child support situation. If they can't prove this, they might be found guilty.

If an employer is found guilty, the court can make them pay money to the person they treated unfairly. The court can also tell the employer to fix any problems they caused for that person.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM257009.

Topics:
Family and relationships > Children and parentingWork and jobs > Worker rights
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Part 10Automatic deductions
Offences and penalties

171Offence to prejudice employees because of financial support liability

  1. Any employer commits an offence against this Act who—

  2. refuses to employ, or to pay salary or wages to, another person; or
    1. dismisses, or threatens to dismiss, another person from his or her employment; or
      1. terminates, or threatens to terminate, the payment of salary or wages to another person; or
        1. prejudices, or threatens to prejudice, another person in his or her employment or otherwise in the receipt of salary or wages; or
          1. intimidates or coerces, imposes any pecuniary or other penalty on, or takes any other disciplinary action in relation to, another person,—
              1. because the other person—
            1. is a liable person; or
              1. is an employee in relation to whom a deduction notice has been given to the employer.

                1. In a prosecution for an offence against subsection (1), it is not necessary for the prosecutor to prove the reason for the defendant's action, but it is a defence to the prosecution if the defendant proves, on the balance of probabilities, that the action was not motivated (either in whole or in part) by a reason specified in that subsection.

                2. Where an employer is convicted of an offence against subsection (1) constituted by an act done in relation to a person, the court may—

                3. order the payment of compensation to the person for loss or damage suffered as a result of the act; and
                  1. order the taking of action to remedy or reduce the loss or damage suffered by the person as a result of the act.