Employment Relations Act 2000

Freedom of association

9: Prohibition on preference

You could also call this:

"No special treatment for union members"

When you are looking for a job or already have one, you cannot be treated differently because you are or are not a member of a union. You must not get special treatment when trying to get a job or keep your job just because of your union membership. This also applies to things like pay, holidays, and opportunities for training or promotion.

If you have a different employment agreement than someone else who works for the same employer, it does not mean that the law has been broken. You and another employee can have different terms and conditions of employment. This is allowed as long as the differences are not because of union membership.

The law does allow for some special conditions in collective agreements, which are agreements between employers and unions. These conditions can recognise the benefits of having a collective agreement, such as better pay or conditions. You can find more information about the law by looking at the Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004.

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8: Voluntary membership of unions, or

"You can choose to join a union or not, it's up to you"


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10: Contracts, agreements, or other arrangements inconsistent with section 8 or section 9, or

"Rules that go against your right to join or not join a union won't work"

Part 3Freedom of association

9Prohibition on preference

  1. A contract, agreement, or other arrangement between persons must not confer on a person, because the person is or is not a member of a union or a particular union,—

  2. any preference in obtaining or retaining employment; or
    1. any preference in relation to terms or conditions of employment (including conditions relating to redundancy) or fringe benefits or opportunities for training, promotion, or transfer.
      1. Subsection (1) is not breached simply because an employee's employment agreement or terms and conditions of employment are different from those of another employee employed by the same employer.

      2. To avoid doubt, this Act does not prevent a collective agreement containing a term or condition that is intended to recognise the benefits—

      3. of a collective agreement:
        1. arising out of the relationship on which a collective agreement is based.
          Compare
          • 1991 No 22 s 7
          Notes
          • Section 9(3): added, on , by section 8 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 86).