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Employment Relations Act 2000

Personal grievances, disputes, and enforcement - Penalties

133: Jurisdiction concerning penalties

You could also call this:

“Who deals with penalties when employment rules are broken?”

The Authority is in charge of dealing with actions to recover penalties under this Act when someone breaks an employment agreement or a provision of this Act that says a penalty can be given by the Authority. You can think of the Authority like a special group that helps solve problems between employers and employees. The Authority’s job is to make sure everyone follows the rules.

When the Authority is dealing with these actions, it has to follow some rules, like what is said in sections 177, 178, and 178AA, which are about sending certain matters to the Employment Court, and what is said in section 179, which is about your right to have the matter heard by the court. These sections are like guidelines that help the Authority make decisions.

If someone breaks a provision of this Act and the penalty is to be given by the court, then the court is in charge of dealing with the action to recover the penalty, unless someone appeals the decision. The court’s job is to listen to the case and make a decision based on the law.

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This page was last updated on 20 May 2025

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

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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).