Time for raising personal grievance based on sexual harassment extended
The sections amended in the principal Act are:
- Section 54 (Form and content of collective agreement) — subs (3)(a)(iii) replaced.
- Section 65 (Form and content of individual employment agreement) — subs (2)(a)(vi) replaced.
- Section 114 (Raising personal grievance) — subs (1) replaced, subs (3) amended and new subs (7) inserted.
- Section 115 (Further provision regarding exceptional circumstances under section 114) — para (a) amended.
- Section 115A (Notifying controlling third party of personal grievance) — subss (1)(a)(ii), (2), (3) and (6) amended.
- Schedule 1AA pt 5 (Provisions relating to Employment Relations (Extended Time for Personal Grievance for Sexual Harassment) Amendment Act 2023) inserted — new cl 19 (Interpretation), cl 20 (Application of requirement for employment agreement to explain new personal-grievance period for sexual harassment) and cl 21 (Application of new personal-grievance period for sexual harassment).
Introduced as a Member’s Bill in 2021, the explanatory note included the following:
“The purpose of this Bill is to extend the time available to raise a personal grievance that involves allegations of sexual harassment from 90 days to 12 months. Coming forward to report sexual harassment can be difficult, and it is common for victims of sexual harassment to wait a long time before coming forward, if at all.
“For a person who has been the subject of sexual harassment, 90 days may not be enough as it can take people some time to consider what has occurred and feel safe to raise it with others. This deadline imposes an arbitrary deadline on victims of workplace sexual harassment and makes it less likely they can formally raise concerns about the behaviour of colleagues.
“This Bill will improve the personal grievance process for victims of workplace sexual harassment by allowing them sufficient time to consider what has happened to them before deciding to come forward.”
For the original and subsequent versions of the Bill, see Employment Relations (Extended Time for Personal Grievance for Sexual Harassment) Amendment Bill 2021 (Members Bill).
The amendments above, along with other recent updating of Employment Law (online ed, Thomson Reuters), are noted at Employment Law — What’s New.
Kevin Leary is a Senior Legal Editor in the New Zealand Analytical Law team at Thomson Reuters. He has more than 20 years' experience as an editor of bound books, looseleafs, precedents and their digital equivalents.