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Accident Compensation Act 2001

Miscellaneous provisions - Liability of directors, employees, and officers

312: Directors, employees, and officers

You could also call this:

“People who run or work for a company can get in trouble if the company breaks the law”

You need to know about a law that talks about directors, employees, and officers of a company. This law says these people can get in trouble if their company breaks the law.

If a company does something wrong and breaks this law, the people who work for the company might also be in trouble. This includes directors, employees, agents, or officers. They can get in trouble if they did something, or didn’t do something, that made the company break the law.

If one of these people is found guilty, they could get the same punishment as if they had broken the law themselves, even though it was the company that actually broke the law.

The law also explains who counts as an employee or officer. It’s not just people who work for the company. It includes anyone who has to do things for the company because of their job or position, even if they’re not a regular employee.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM103458.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law Business > Industry rules
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Part 9 Miscellaneous provisions
Liability of directors, employees, and officers

312Directors, employees, and officers

  1. A director, employee, agent, or officer of a body corporate commits an offence against this Act if—

  2. the body corporate commits an offence against this Act (the principal offence); and
    1. the principal offence was caused by an act done or carried out by, or by an omission of, the director, employee, agent, or officer.

      1. A director, employee, agent, or officer who does or carries out the act or omission referred to in subsection (1) is liable on conviction for up to the same maximum penalty that could apply to an individual, if an individual had committed the principal offence.

      2. An employee or officer of a body corporate includes a person who, by reason of the person's employment with, or position in relation to, the body corporate, is responsible by law, contract, or otherwise for undertaking an action on behalf of the body corporate.