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Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004

Enforcement and miscellaneous provisions - Miscellaneous provisions

77: Liability of employers, principals, and directors

You could also call this:

"When workers do something wrong, their bosses can also get in trouble if they knew or agreed with what happened."

Illustration for Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004

If you do something wrong as an employee, your employer can also be held responsible if they agreed with what you did or knew about it and did not try to stop you. You are an employee when you work for someone else, and that someone else is your employer. If you do something wrong while working for them, they can be treated as if they did it too, if they approved of it or knew it was happening and did not prevent it.

If you do something wrong as an agent for someone else, the person you are working for, called the principal, can also be held responsible if they agreed with what you did or knew about it and did not try to stop you. This means that if you are working for someone and you do something wrong, they can be treated as if they did it too, if they approved of it or knew it was happening and did not prevent it.

If a company breaks the law, the people in charge of the company, called directors, can also be held responsible if they agreed with what the company did or knew about it and did not try to stop it. A director is someone who helps make decisions for a company, and this can include people who are not officially called directors but are still involved in running the company.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM319808.

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Work and jobs > Worker rightsBusiness > Industry rules
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76: Regulations, or

"Rules made by the Governor-General to guide assisted reproductive procedures and research"

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78: Fees, or

"You must pay a fee before the Registrar-General will do certain things under this law."

Part 4Enforcement and miscellaneous provisions
Miscellaneous provisions

77Liability of employers, principals, and directors

  1. An act done by a person as the employee (the employee) of another person (the employer) is, for the purposes of an offence against this Act, to be treated as done by the employer as well as by the employee if—

  2. the employer approved of the act; or
    1. the employer knew that the act was to be done or was being done and failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.

      1. An act done by a person as the agent (the agent) of another person (the principal) is, for the purposes of an offence against this Act, to be treated as done by the principal as well as by the agent if—

      2. the principal approved of the act; or
        1. the principal knew that the act was to be done or was being done and failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.

          1. Whenever a body corporate is convicted of an offence against this Act, a director of the body corporate is to be treated as having committed the same offence if—

          2. the director approved of the act that constituted the offence; or
            1. the director knew the offence was to be or was being committed and failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.

              1. In subsection (3), director includes a person who is concerned in the management of a body corporate.