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Employment Relations Act 2000

Rest breaks and meal breaks

69ZG: Relationship between Part and employment agreements

You could also call this:

“ This law explains how work agreements and rest break rules work together, making sure you get fair breaks at work. ”

Your employer can give you better or extra rest breaks and meal breaks than what the law says. They can put this in your employment agreement or agree to it in another way.

If your employment agreement tries to take away or reduce your rights to rest breaks and meal breaks under section 69ZD or 69ZE, or doesn’t follow section 69ZEA or 69ZEB, that part of the agreement won’t work. However, this doesn’t make your whole employment agreement illegal under the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1940674.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rights
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69ZF: Penalty, or

“The boss might get in trouble if they don't give you proper break times.”

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69ZH: Relationship between this Part and other enactments, or

“This law explains which break rules to follow when there are different sets of rules for rest and meal breaks.”

Part 6D Rest breaks and meal breaks

69ZGRelationship between Part and employment agreements

  1. This Part does not prevent an employer from providing an employee with enhanced or additional entitlements to rest breaks and meal breaks (whether specified in an employment agreement or otherwise) on a basis agreed with the employee.

  2. An employment agreement that excludes, restricts, or reduces an employee’s entitlements under section 69ZD or 69ZE or fails to comply with section 69ZEA or 69ZEB—

  3. has no effect to the extent that it does so; but
    1. is not an illegal contract under subpart 5 of Part 2 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017.

      1. Repealed
      Notes
      • Section 69ZG: replaced, on , by section 52 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 61).
      • Section 69ZG(2): replaced, on , by section 44 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018 (2018 No 53).
      • Section 69ZG(3): repealed, on , by section 44 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018 (2018 No 53).