New Zealand Acts

EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS ACT 2000 - SECT 33

33 Duty of good faith requires parties to conclude collective agreement unless genuine reason not to

1 The duty of good faith in section 4 requires a union and an employer bargaining for a collective agreement to conclude a collective agreement unless there is a genuine reason, based on reasonable grounds, not to.

2 For the purposes of subsection (1),
"genuine reason" does not include—

a) opposition or objection in principle to—

i) bargaining for, or being a party to, a collective agreement; or

ii) including rates of wages or salary in a collective agreement; or

b) disagreement about including a bargaining fee clause under Part 6B in a collective agreement; or

c) the existence of an unsettled pay equity claim between an employer and a claimant under the Equal Pay Act 1972 .

d)

e)

3 For the purposes of subsection (1), opposition to concluding a multi-employer collective agreement is a genuine reason not to conclude a collective agreement if that opposition is based on reasonable grounds.

4 Clause 6 of Schedule 1B overrides subsection (3).

5 In this section and in clause 6 of Schedule 1B ,
"multi-employer collective agreement" means a single collective agreement involving 2 or more employers.

History: Section 33: replaced, on 6 May 2019, by section 14 of the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018 (2018 No 53).   Section 33(2)(c): inserted, on 6 November 2020, by section 33 of the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 45).     Section 33(2)(d): repealed, on 14 May 2025, by section 51 of the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 21).     Section 33(2)(e): repealed, on 20 December 2023, by section 7(1) of the Fair Pay Agreements Act Repeal Act 2023 (2023 No 65).