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Employment Relations Act 2000

Personal grievances, disputes, and enforcement - Penalties

133: Jurisdiction concerning penalties

You could also call this:

“The court decides who gets in trouble and how much they pay for breaking work rules.”

The Employment Relations Authority has the main responsibility to handle all cases about penalties under this Act. This includes penalties for breaking an employment agreement or for breaking any part of this Act that says the Authority can give a penalty.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule. Some matters can be sent to or moved to the Employment Court. This can happen under sections 177, 178, and 178AA of the Act. Also, you might have the right to have your case heard by the court under section 179.

For any other parts of this Act where it says the court can give a penalty, the Employment Court has the main responsibility to handle these cases. This is final, except for any rights to appeal that the Act allows.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM60380.

Topics:

Work and jobs > Worker rights

Crime and justice > Courts and legal help

132: Failure to keep or produce records, or

“If an employer doesn't keep good records, the worker's story about their pay and hours might be believed”

133A: Matters Authority and court to have regard to in determining amount of penalty, or

“Things to think about when deciding how much money someone should pay for breaking employment rules”

Part 9 Personal grievances, disputes, and enforcement
Penalties

133Jurisdiction concerning penalties

The Authority has full and exclusive jurisdiction to deal with all actions for the recovery of penalties under this Act—
for any breach of an employment agreement; or
for a breach of any provision of this Act for which a penalty in the Authority is provided in the particular provision.

Subsection (1) is subject to—
sections 177, 178, and 178AA (which provide for the referral or removal of certain matters to the Employment Court); and
any right to have the matter heard by the court under section 179.

Subject to any rights of appeal under this Act, the court has full and exclusive jurisdiction to deal with all actions for the recovery of penalties under this Act for a breach of any other provision of this Act for which a penalty in the court is provided in the particular provision.

Compare

1991 No 22 s 51

Notes

Section 133(2)(a): amended, on 28 November 2023, by section 88 of the Security Information in Proceedings (Repeals and Amendments) Act 2022 (2022 No 72).