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Employment Relations Act 2000

Additional provisions relating to enforcement of employment standards

142A: Object of this Part

You could also call this:

“This part explains how the law helps make sure workers get paid fairly by giving inspectors more ways to stop and punish bosses who break the rules.”

This part of the law aims to help make sure employers follow the rules about paying and treating their workers fairly. It gives more ways to enforce these rules, especially the ones about minimum entitlements.

You should know that a Labour Inspector can ask the court to do several things:

They can declare when an employer has seriously broken the rules about minimum entitlements. They can also order the employer to pay a fine for these serious breaches. If workers have been hurt or might be hurt by these serious breaches, the court can order the employer to pay them compensation.

The court can also ban employers who keep breaking the rules from being employers or being involved in employing people.

It’s against the law for employers to have insurance that pays their fines for breaking these rules.

The law explains what it means to be involved in breaking employment rules. It also says when a company or a boss is responsible for what their employees or agents do or think.

There are some situations where an employer might have a defence for breaking minimum entitlement rules.

These new rules are in addition to the rules in sections 133 to 142 and sections 223 to 235 of the law.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6803066.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Business > Fair trading
Rights and equality > Anti-discrimination
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142: Limitation period for actions other than personal grievances, or

“You have six years to start a case about work problems that aren't personal grievances.”

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142B: Court may make declarations of breach, or

“The judge can say someone broke important work rules if they did something really wrong.”

Part 9A Additional provisions relating to enforcement of employment standards

142AObject of this Part

  1. The object of this Part is to provide additional enforcement measures to promote the more effective enforcement of employment standards (especially minimum entitlement provisions) by—

  2. providing for a Labour Inspector to apply to the court for—
    1. declarations of breach in relation to breaches of minimum entitlement provisions that are serious:
      1. pecuniary penalty orders for breaches of minimum entitlement provisions that are serious:
        1. compensation orders for serious breaches of minimum entitlement provisions to compensate employees who have suffered or are likely to suffer loss or damage as a result:
          1. banning orders based on certain grounds, including persistent breach of employment standards; and
          2. making insurance for pecuniary penalties unlawful; and
            1. providing for—
              1. what is meant by being involved in a breach of employment standards; and
                1. when states of mind or conduct by certain persons are to be attributed to bodies corporate and principals; and
                2. providing certain defences to breaches of minimum entitlement provisions.

                  1. The provisions in this Part are in addition to the provisions in—

                  2. sections 133 to 142; and
                    1. sections 223 to 235.

                      Notes
                      • Section 142A: inserted, on , by section 19 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 9).