In December 2018 the Employment Relations Amendment Act passed
through the final stages of law making and was granted Royal
Assent. This article deals with some of the significant changes
made by the Act, most of which will take effect in May 2019.
The purpose of the changes is to, ‘restore key minimum
standards and protections for employees, and to implement a suite
of changes to promote and strengthen collective bargaining and
union rights in the workplace. The changes are intended to
introduce greater fairness in the workplace between employees and
employers, in order to promote productive employment
relationships.’ In attempting to achieve this purpose,
the Act has made significant changes to New Zealand’s
industrial landscape.
