Employment Relations Act 2000

Personal grievances, disputes, and enforcement - Personal grievances

104: Discrimination

You could also call this:

“Unfair treatment at work because of who you are or what you believe in”

You are discriminated against in your job if your employer or their representative treats you unfairly because of certain reasons. These reasons are listed in section 105, and they also include your union membership or involvement in union activities, as explained in section 107.

Discrimination can happen in different ways. Your employer might not give you the same job terms, work conditions, benefits, or chances for training, promotion, or transfer that other employees with similar qualifications and experience get. They might fire you or treat you badly when they wouldn’t do this to other employees doing the same kind of work. They might also make you retire or resign when they wouldn’t do this to others.

When we talk about treating you badly or putting you at a disadvantage, we mean anything that negatively affects your job, how well you can do your work, or how happy you are at work.

It’s important to know that there are some exceptions to these rules. You can find these exceptions in section 106.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM60329.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Rights and equality > Anti-discrimination

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103B: Joining controlling third party to personal grievance, or

“A person who controls and directs a worker can be added to a complaint about unfair treatment at work.”


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105: Prohibited grounds of discrimination for purposes of section 104, or

“A list of reasons why it's not okay to treat people unfairly at work”

Part 9 Personal grievances, disputes, and enforcement
Personal grievances

104Discrimination

  1. For the purposes of section 103(1)(c), an employee is discriminated against in that employee's employment if the employee's employer or a representative of that employer, by reason directly or indirectly of any of the prohibited grounds of discrimination specified in section 105, or the employee’s union membership status or involvement in union activities in terms of section 107,—

  2. refuses or omits to offer or afford to that employee the same terms of employment, conditions of work, fringe benefits, or opportunities for training, promotion, and transfer as are made available for other employees of the same or substantially similar qualifications, experience, or skills employed in the same or substantially similar circumstances; or
    1. 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
      1. retires that employee, or requires or causes that employee to retire or resign.
        1. For the purposes of this section, detriment includes anything that has a detrimental effect on the employee's employment, job performance, or job satisfaction.

        2. This section is subject to the exceptions set out in section 106.

        Compare
        • 1991 No 22 s 28(1)
        Notes
        • Section 104(1): amended, on , by section 31 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018 (2018 No 53).
        • Section 104(1): amended, on , by section 6 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2015 (2015 No 73).