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Employment Relations Act 2000

General provisions - Powers

233: Obligations of Labour Inspectors

You could also call this:

“Labour inspectors must follow safety rules, show their ID, and leave a note if no one is there when they visit a workplace.”

When you go into a workplace as a Labour Inspector, you need to follow certain rules. You must obey any safety rules that are already in place at the workplace. If there are areas where only employees are allowed, you can’t go into those parts.

When you first enter a workplace, and if someone asks you later, you need to show your official Labour Inspector card or the special permission slip that lets you enter. You should show this to the employer or someone who represents them.

If you can’t find the employer or their representative when you visit, even after trying hard to do so, you need to leave a note before you go. This note should say who you are, that you’re a Labour Inspector, when you came, and why you were there.

Sometimes, you might need to enter a workplace because of rules in [section 229(1)(a) or 229A], or because you have special permission from [section 231]. In these cases, all of these rules still apply to you.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM61466.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Work and jobs > Workplace safety
Government and voting > Government departments
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232: Compilation of wages and time record, or

“Creating a record of work hours and pay when the original is missing”

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233A: Obligation of Labour Inspector and department not to disclose information, or

“Labour inspectors and the department must keep information they see private, except for special reasons.”

Part 11 General provisions
Powers

233Obligations of Labour Inspectors

  1. In entering any premises under the authority of section 229(1)(a) or 229A or under the authority of a warrant issued under section 231, a Labour Inspector is bound by any existing reasonable safety and health procedures and requirements applying at the premises and, to the extent that such procedures or requirements reasonably limit or prohibit the entry of persons other than employees to particular parts of the premises, may not enter such parts.

  2. Every Labour Inspector who enters any premises under the authority of section 229(1)(a) or 229A or under the authority of a warrant issued under section 231 must, on first entering those premises, and, if requested, at any subsequent time, produce to the employer or a representative of the employer that person's warrant under section 223(2) or the warrant issued under section 231, as the case may require.

  3. Where a Labour Inspector enters any premises under the authority of section 229(1)(a) or 229A or under the authority of a warrant issued under section 231 and is unable, despite reasonable efforts, to find at those premises the employer or any representative of the employer, that Labour Inspector must, after the entry and inspection and before leaving those premises, leave at those premises a written notice addressed to the employer.

  4. That written notice must state—

  5. the identity of the person who entered the premises; and
    1. the fact that the person is a Labour Inspector; and
      1. the date and time of the entry; and
        1. the reasons for the entry.

          1. Repealed
          Compare
          • 1991 No 22 s 145
          Notes
          • Section 233(1): amended, on , by section 8 of the Regulatory Systems (Workforce) Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 63).
          • Section 233(2): amended, on , by section 8 of the Regulatory Systems (Workforce) Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 63).
          • Section 233(3): amended, on , by section 8 of the Regulatory Systems (Workforce) Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 63).
          • Section 233(5): repealed, on , by section 33 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 9).