Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

 Plain Language Law homepage
Back to
69LA: Liability for costs of service-related entitlements of transferring employee
or “Who pays for the old benefits when an employee changes jobs during a company restructure”
You could also call this:

“When companies can't agree on who pays for employee benefits during job changes, they can get help to solve their argument.”

If you and your new employer can’t agree on how to split the costs for things you’re entitled to because of how long you’ve worked, there are ways to solve this problem.

You and your employer can try to fix the problem by talking it out with the help of a mediator. This is like having someone help you have a conversation to reach an agreement. You can use the mediation services that the government provides, or you can use other mediation services if everyone agrees.

If talking it out doesn’t work, you can ask the Employment Relations Authority to decide. The Authority is a special group that helps solve workplace problems. They will look at the rules about how long you’ve worked and decide how to split the costs fairly between your old and new employers.

Remember, this process is treated just like any other workplace problem, so you have the right to get help to solve it.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

Next up: 69LC: Implied warranty by employer of transferring employees

or “The old boss promises not to make bad changes to workers' jobs before they move to a new boss.”
Next

Part 6A Continuity of employment if employees' work affected by restructuring
Specified categories of employees

69LBResolving disputes about apportioning liability for costs of service-related entitlements

  1. This section applies to a dispute between an employee’s employer and the new employer (or, if more than 1 new employer is involved, all or any of the new employers) about apportioning liability for the costs of service-related entitlements under section 69LA(3).

  2. If the dispute cannot be resolved between the employee’s employer and the new employer or employers,—

  3. the parties may access mediation services as if the dispute were an employment relationship problem:
    1. proceedings to resolve the dispute may be commenced before the Authority as if the dispute were an employment relationship problem.

      1. For the purposes of subsection (2)(a), the parties may agree to access mediation services that are—

      2. provided under section 144 (in which case, sections 145 to 153 apply, with any necessary modifications); or
        1. referred to in section 154.

          1. If proceedings are commenced before the Authority, the Authority must determine the apportionment of the costs of the service-related entitlements in accordance with section 69LA(3).

          Notes
          • Section 69LB: inserted, on , by section 40 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 61).