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Employment Relations Act 2000

Personal grievances, disputes, and enforcement - Personal grievances

117: Sexual or racial harassment by person other than employer

You could also call this:

“Harassment at work: what to do if someone makes you feel uncomfortable because of your sex or race”

If someone at your workplace, who is not your boss, asks you to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable because of your sex or race, you can complain about it. This can also happen if someone at your workplace, or a customer, does something that makes you feel uncomfortable because of your sex or race. You can make a complaint to your employer or to a representative of your employer about this kind of behaviour, which is described in section 108(1)(a), section 108(1)(b), or section 109. When you make a complaint, your employer or their representative must look into what happened. If they find out that the uncomfortable request or behaviour really did happen, they must do what they can to stop it from happening again.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM60357.

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

Part 9 Personal grievances, disputes, and enforcement
Personal grievances

117Sexual or racial harassment by person other than employer

  1. This section applies where—

  2. a request of the kind described in section 108(1)(a) is made to an employee by a person (not being a representative of the employer) who is in the employ of the employee's employer or who is a customer or client of the employer; or
    1. an employee is subjected to behaviour of the kind described in section 108(1)(b) by a person (not being a representative of the employer) who is in the employ of the employee's employer or who is a customer or client of the employer; or
      1. an employee is subjected to behaviour of the kind described in section 109 by a person (not being a representative of the employer) who is in the employ of the employee's employer or who is a customer or client of the employer.

        1. If this section applies, the employee may make a complaint about that request or behaviour to the employee's employer or to a representative of the employer.

        2. The employer or representative, on receiving a complaint under subsection (2), must inquire into the facts.

        3. If the employer or representative is satisfied that the request was made or that the behaviour took place, the employer or representative must take whatever steps are practicable to prevent any repetition of such a request or of such behaviour.

        Compare
        • 1991 No 22 s 36(1), (2)