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Employment Relations Act 2000

Additional provisions relating to enforcement of employment standards - Pecuniary penalty orders

142E: Pecuniary penalty orders

You could also call this:

“A court can order someone to pay money if they break certain rules at work.”

If you have been found to have broken certain employment laws, the court can make you pay a penalty. This is called a pecuniary penalty order. Only a Labour Inspector can ask the court to make this order. They can do this at the same time they ask the court to say you’ve broken the law, or they can do it later, even after the court has already said you’ve broken the law. The court will only consider making you pay a penalty if they have already said you’ve broken the law.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6803072.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Crime and justice > Courts and legal help
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142D: What declaration of breach must state, or

“A declaration of breach must explain what rule was broken, who broke it, and how they broke it.”

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142F: Matters court to have regard to in determining amount of pecuniary penalty, or

“The court looks at many things when deciding how much money someone should pay as a punishment for breaking employment rules.”

Part 9A Additional provisions relating to enforcement of employment standards
Pecuniary penalty orders

142EPecuniary penalty orders

  1. The court may make a pecuniary penalty order against a person in respect of whom the court has made a declaration of breach.

  2. An application for a pecuniary penalty order may be made—

  3. only by a Labour Inspector; and
    1. at the following times:
      1. when application is made for a declaration of breach; or
        1. subsequently, whether before or after the application for a declaration of breach is determined.

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