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Employment Relations Act 2000

Continuity of employment if employees' work affected by restructuring - Specified categories of employees

69J: Employment of employee who elects to transfer to new employer treated as continuous

You could also call this:

“If you choose to work for a new boss, your job counts as one long job, keeping all your work benefits.”

If you choose to transfer to a new employer, your employment is treated as if it never stopped. This means you keep all the benefits you’ve earned based on how long you’ve been working, whether these benefits come from laws or other sources.

Here’s what this means for your holidays and leave:

Your old employer won’t pay you for annual holidays you haven’t taken yet. Instead, your new employer will recognise these holidays. They’ll also recognise any sick leave, bereavement leave, and family violence leave you haven’t used. If you’ve earned any alternative holidays (days off instead of working on a public holiday), your new employer will recognise these too.

The time you worked for your old employer counts towards your parental leave rights with your new employer. If you or your old employer gave any notices about parental leave, these will still count with your new employer.

This law makes sure you don’t lose out on any of your work benefits when you change employers in this way.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM59639.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Rights and equality > Anti-discrimination
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69I: Employee may elect to transfer to new employer, or

“You can choose to work for the new boss if your job changes”

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69K: Terms and conditions of employment of transferring employee under fixed term employment, or

“Rules for employees moving to a new job when their work changes hands”

Part 6A Continuity of employment if employees' work affected by restructuring
Specified categories of employees

69JEmployment of employee who elects to transfer to new employer treated as continuous

  1. The employment of an employee who elects to transfer to a new employer is to be treated as continuous, including for the purpose of service-related entitlements whether legislative or otherwise.

  2. To avoid doubt, and without limiting subsection (1),—

  3. in relation to an employee's entitlements under the Holidays Act 2003,—
    1. the period of employment of an employee with the employer that ends with the transfer must be treated as a period of employment with the new employer for the purpose of determining the employee's entitlement to annual holidays, sick leave, bereavement leave, and family violence leave; and
      1. the employer must not pay the employee for annual holidays not taken before the date of transfer; and
        1. the new employer must recognise the employee's entitlement to—
          1. any sick leave, including any sick leave carried over under section 66 of that Act, not taken before the date of transfer; and
            1. any annual holidays not taken before the date of transfer; and
              1. any alternative holidays not taken or exchanged for payment under section 61 of that Act before the date of transfer:
            2. for the purposes of determining an employee's rights and benefits to parental leave and parental leave payments under the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987,—
              1. the period of employment of an employee with the employer that ends with the transfer must be treated as a period of employment with the new employer; and
                1. the new employer must treat any notice given to or by the employer under the Act as if it had been given to or by the new employer.

                Notes
                • Section 69J: substituted, on , by section 6 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 41).
                • Section 69J(2)(a)(i): amended, on , by section 259(1) of the Family Violence Act 2018 (2018 No 46).
                • Section 69J(2)(a)(i): amended, on , by section 7 of the Domestic Violence—Victims' Protection Act 2018 (2018 No 21).