Section 161 — Employment Relations Act 2000: Jurisdiction

161 Jurisdiction (1) The Authority has exclusive jurisdiction to make determinations about employment relationship problems generally, including— (a) disputes about the interpretation, application, or operation of an employment agreement: (b) matters related to a breach of an employment agreement: (c) matters about whether a person is an employee (not being matters arising on an application under section 6(5) ): (ca) facilitating bargaining under sections 50A to 50I : (cb) fixing the provisions of a collective agreement under section 50J : (cc) determining whether an employer has complied with section 69AAE : (d) matters alleged to arise under section 68 because a party to an individual employment agreement has bargained unfairly: (da) investigating bargaining under section 69O and, if necessary, determining redundancy entitlements under that section: (e) personal grievances: (f) matters about whether the good faith obligations imposed by this Act (including those that apply where a union and an employer bargain for a collective agreement) have been complied with in a particular case: (g) matters about the recovery of wages or other money under section 131 : (h) matters about whether the rules of a union, or of an incorporated society that wishes to register as a union, comply with the provisions of this Act: (i) matters about whether an incorporated society is entitled to register under this Act as a union or is entitled to continue to be so registered: (j) matters about whether a person is entitled to be a member of a union: (k) matters related to a failure by a union to comply with its rules: (l) any proceedings related to a strike or lockout (other than those founded on tort or seeking an injunction): (m) actions for the recovery of penalties— (i) under this Act for a breach of an employment agreement: (ii) under this Act for a breach of any provision of this Act (being a provision that provides for the penalty to be recovered in the Authority): (iii) under section 76 of the Holidays Act 2003 : (iv) under section 10 of the Minimum Wage Act 1983 : (v) under section 13 of the Wages Protection Act 1983 : (n) compliance orders under section 137 : (o) objections under section 225 to demand notices: (p) orders for interim reinstatement under section 127 : (q) actions of the type referred to in section 228(1) : (r) any other action (being an action that is not directly within the jurisdiction of the Court) arising from or related to the employment relationship or related to the interpretation of this Act (other than an action founded on tort): (s) determinations under such other powers and functions as are conferred on it by this or any other Act. (2) Except as provided in subsection (1)(ca) , (cb) , (d) , (da) , and (f) , the Authority does not have jurisdiction to make a determination about any matter relating to— (a) bargaining; or (b) the fixing of new terms and conditions of employment. (3) Except as provided in this Act, no court has jurisdiction in relation to any matter that, under subsection (1) , is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Authority. Compare: 1991 No 22 s 79(1)(b)-(g), (j) Subsection (1)(ca) and (cb) was inserted, as from 1 December 2004, by section 55(1) Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 86). See section 73 of that Act for the transitional provisions. Section 161(1)(cc): inserted, on 1 July 2008, by section 6 of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Act 2007 (2007 No 105). Subsection (1)(da) was inserted, as from 1 December 2004, by section 55(2) Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 86). See section 73 of that Act for the transitional provisions. Subsection (1)(da) was amended, as from 14 September 2006, by section 10 Employment Relations Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 41) by substituting the expression “ 69O ” for the expression “ 69J ” . See section 11 of that Act as to the transitional provisions. Subsection (1)(m)(iii) was amended, as from 1 April 2004, by section 91(2) Holidays Act 2003 (2003 No 129) by substituting the words “ section 76 of the Holidays Act 2003 ” for the words “ section 20 of the Holidays Act 1981 ” . Subsection (2) was amended, as from 1 December 2004, by section 55(3) Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 86) by substituting the words “ subsection (1)(ca), (cb), (d), (da), and (f) ” for the words “ subsection (1)(d) or subsection (1)(f) ” . See section 73 of that Act for the transitional provisions.