15Claimant employee must not be treated adversely

1. An employer must not treat adversely any employee who raises or is covered by a claim under this Act (including an employee who is covered by a union-raised claim).

2. In this section, an employer treats an employee adversely if the employer—

3. refuses or omits to offer or provide to that employee the same terms and conditions of employment (including the same remuneration, conditions of work, fringe benefits, or opportunities for training, promotion, and transfer) as are offered or provided to other employees of the same, or substantially similar, qualifications, experience, or skills employed in the same, or substantially similar, circumstances; or
4. dismisses that employee or subjects that employee to any detriment, in circumstances in which other employees employed by that employer on work of that description are not or would not be dismissed or subjected to such detriment; or
5. retires that employee, or requires or causes that employee to retire or resign.

6. An employee may raise a claim against the employee’s employer or former employer for a contravention of subsection (1).

7. A claim referred to in subsection (3) is to be treated as a personal grievance under section 103(1) of the Employment Relations Act 2000 and, if an employer alleges that any of the actions described in subsection (2) were not related to the employee’s raising of a claim but were justifiable on other grounds, section 103A of that Act applies and the employer must establish that the employer’s actions were justifiable.

8. For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), detriment includes anything that has a detrimental effect on that employee’s employment, job performance, or job satisfaction.