going to the Employment Relations Authority

The Employment Relations Authority is an investigative body that operates in an informal way. It looks into the facts and makes a decision based on the merits of the case, not on legal technicalities.

The Authority is in three locations (Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch) and its members may travel to places where a problem has arisen.

Getting in touch with the Employment Relations Authority

Contact Workplace Contact Centre for the contact details for the Employment Relations Authority office nearest to you and details of forms and fees.

At this stage you are unable to file your application with the Employment Relations Authority online.  All Employment Relations Authority forms are available to you on this site, but only as either MS Word or PDF files.

When applying to the Authority, as applicant you have to fill out a simple form, called a Statement of Problem (Form 1) explaining in ordinary language what the problem is. The explanation should include the facts that gave rise to the problem and the way you would like the problem resolved. You then lodge your application by sending your completed form to the Authority together with the fee.

The Authority will send a copy of your Statement of Problem to the other party, the respondent, who will be asked to provide a Statement in Reply (Form 3) within 14 days. The respondent should give his or her view of the problem in plain language, his or her account of the facts, and any steps taken to resolve the problem, such as mediation.

The Authority can contact either party to clarify any points made in their statements. It may also hold a "pre-investigation conference", perhaps by telephone or other means, to resolve some issues or discuss procedures for the investigation of the problem.

Processes available to help sort out problems

The Authority can use a variety of ways to sort through the issues, such as:

• calling for evidence from the parties or anyone else
• holding investigation meetings
• interviewing the parties or anyone else.

The Authority must consider whether mediation will still be helpful in resolving the problem. At any stage in the proceedings it can direct the parties to try mediation, whether or not they have done so already.

Employers and employees can choose to be represented in the Employment Relations Authority. For all applications to the Employment Relations Authority, there is an application fee of $70. Please send payment and application to the office nearest you:

We welcome the opportunity to help you further. If you want further clarification, more detailed information or guidance on any matter covered here, contact the Workplace Contact Centre (http://www.ers.dol.govt.nz/help/index.html).

This page was last updated on: 16-Nov-2009 and is current.