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Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

Worker engagement, participation, and representation - Prohibition of adverse, coercive, or misleading conduct

88: Meaning of adverse conduct

You could also call this:

“What counts as unfair treatment due to health and safety actions or views”

When someone does something that hurts a worker because of their actions or views about health and safety, we call this ‘adverse conduct’. This can happen in many ways. For example, if you’re an employee, it could mean firing you or changing your job in a way that’s not fair. If you’re not an employee but work for someone, it could mean ending your work agreement unfairly.

Adverse conduct can also mean not giving you a job you’re qualified for, or not giving you the same chances as other workers with similar skills. It might involve treating you worse than other workers or making you leave your job when others wouldn’t have to.

Sometimes, adverse conduct isn’t just about workers. It can also mean unfairly ending or refusing to start a business deal with someone else.

It’s important to know that even planning to do these things or threatening to do them counts as adverse conduct too.

When we talk about treating a worker worse than others, we mean anything that makes their job harder or less enjoyable. This could be changes to their work, how well they can do their job, or how happy they are at work.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5977023.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Work and jobs > Workplace safety
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“WorkSafe can help solve problems about stopping work for safety reasons”

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“What counts as an unfair reason for treating workers badly over health and safety matters”

Part 3 Worker engagement, participation, and representation
Prohibition of adverse, coercive, or misleading conduct

88Meaning of adverse conduct

  1. For the purposes of this subpart, a person engages in adverse conduct if—

  2. the person—
    1. dismisses a worker who is an employee; or
      1. terminates a contract for services with a worker; or
        1. refuses or omits to employ or engage any person on work of any description that is available and for which that person is qualified; or
          1. refuses or omits to offer or afford to the worker the same terms of employment or engagement, conditions of work, fringe benefits, or opportunities for training, promotion, and transfer as are made available to other workers of the same or substantially similar qualifications, experience, or skills who are employed or engaged in the same or substantially similar circumstances; or
            1. subjects the worker to any detriment, in circumstances in which other workers employed or engaged by the person on work of that description are not or would not be subjected to such detriment; or
              1. retires the worker, or requires or causes the worker to retire or resign or terminate a contract for services; or
              2. the person terminates a commercial arrangement with another person; or
                1. the person refuses or fails to enter into a commercial arrangement with another person.

                  1. For the purposes of this subpart, a person also engages in adverse conduct if the person organises to take any action referred to in subsection (1) or threatens to organise or take that action.

                  2. For the purposes of subsection (1)(a)(v), detriment includes anything that has a detrimental effect on the worker’s employment or engagement, job performance, or job satisfaction.

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