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Employment Relations Act 2000

Institutions - Employment Court

192: Application to collective agreements of law relating to contracts

You could also call this:

"Rules for solving problems with work agreements between employees and employers"

The court has some rules when it comes to collective agreements. You can think of a collective agreement like a contract between a group of employees and their employer. If there is a problem with the agreement, the court might not be able to cancel or change it, even if it is referring to section 162 as applied by section 190(1).

The court can make some other orders instead, like suspending part of the agreement and telling the parties to talk about it again. The court can also tell the parties to use mediation to help them talk.

The court can even make a declaration about whether the employees or employers can go on strike or lock out each other while they are talking. If the court makes this kind of declaration, it must say when the right to strike or lock out will start or stop.

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Part 10Institutions
Employment Court

192Application to collective agreements of law relating to contracts

  1. The court may not, under section 162 (as applied by section 190(1)), make in respect of a collective agreement an order cancelling or varying the agreement or any term of the agreement.

  2. Despite subsection (1), the court may, instead of making an order of the kind described in that subsection,—

  3. make an order—
    1. suspending some aspect of the agreement; and
      1. directing the parties to the collective agreement to reopen bargaining with regard to the suspended aspect of the agreement; and
      2. in addition to an order under paragraph (a), make an order requiring the parties to make use of mediation in the bargaining required by paragraph (a)(ii); and
        1. in addition to orders under paragraphs (a) and (b), make a declaration that the employees and employers covered by the collective agreement (or either of them) are, or are not, to have the right to strike or lock out available to them, while the bargaining required by the order under paragraph (a)(ii) continues.

          1. Every declaration under subsection (2)(c) must state the date on which the right to strike or lock out is to become available or is to cease to be available.

          Compare
          • 1991 No 22 s 104(2)