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27: PCBU must not levy workers
or “Employers can't charge workers for workplace health and safety”
You could also call this:

“You can't make agreements that avoid or change this law”

You can’t make an agreement or contract that tries to ignore or change this law. If you try to do this, that part of your agreement won’t work. This means you can’t:

  • Say this law doesn’t apply to you
  • Try to limit how this law works
  • Change how this law works
  • Try to make someone else responsible for what this law says you must do

Even though you can’t do these things, trying to do them doesn’t make your whole contract illegal. The law about illegal contracts (subpart 5 of Part 2 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017) doesn’t apply here.

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Next up: 29: Insurance against fines unlawful

or “Businesses and individuals cannot use insurance to pay health and safety fines”
Next

Part 1 Health and safety at work
General provisions

28No contracting out

  1. A term of any agreement or contract that purports to exclude, limit, or modify the operation of this Act, or any duty owed under this Act, or to transfer to another person any duty owed under this Act—

  2. has no effect to the extent that it does so; but
    1. is not an illegal contract under subpart 5 of Part 2 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017.

      Compare
        Notes
        • Section 28(b): amended, on , by section 347 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 (2017 No 5).