[citation needed] New Zealand is committed to a number of international institutions and treaties and is widely regarded as one of the world's pioneers in terms of enforcement of and protection of labour rights and obligations.
[1] In relation to employment, the Ministry aims to provide more jobs and to increase the number of opportunities for New Zealanders to participate in more productive and higher paid work.
Other important recognition's contained in the Act include:[4] Under Part 3 of the ER Act trade unions in New Zealand have the right to association: Under section 157 the Employment Relations Authority is defined as an investigative body that examines the facts of the case, as opposed to legal technicalities, in seeking to resolve problems with the parties' employment relationship.
[6] The Human Rights Act 1993 expressly prohibits discrimination on certain stated grounds including sex, race, family status, political opinion and the like.
[8] Four out of five submissions described examples of discrimination that ranged from harassment at work to vicious assault and sexual abuse.
The results found that Asian people experienced significant discrimination both working at and applying for jobs, and had higher rates of unemployment and under-employment than other ethnic groups.
It remains difficult to gauge the levels of workplace discrimination in New Zealand nationally due to inadequacies in data recording and reporting.
[11] Other important labour related legislation includes: A number of rights and entitlements arise from the various employment enactments.
[15] The minimum wage rates apply to all employees and must be paid if a person is over 16 years of age and not a starting-out or trainee worker.
Following this, in DML v Montgomery and M & T Enterprises Ltd[21] the plaintiff alleged that the owner of a brothel at which she worked had sexually harassed her, causing humiliation, loss of dignity, and injury to her feelings.
The Human Rights Review Tribunal found in her favor and awarded the plaintiff NZD $25,000; issued a declaration and a restraining order (to prevent a continuing breach); and ordered that the brothel's management staff undergo training to understand why sexual harassment is unacceptable.
"[27] Of the thirty 'priority areas for action on human rights' released in the 2010 report, three were workplace and employment related.
Despite these improvements, average outcomes for Māori tend to be poorer than for the total population and the median hourly earnings, occupational spread, representation in senior roles and workplace injury claims.
Māori youth unemployment rates stand as one of the highest figures of any group in New Zealand, sitting at 30.3 per cent in June 2010.
[32] Despite having pioneered a number of rights issues in the international sphere, in 2010 the United Nations Human Rights Committee raised concern about the low representation of women in high-level and managerial positions and on boards of private enterprises with respect to compliance with arts 2, 3 and 26 of the ICCPR.
It was recommended the state seek ways to encourage women participation in these roles including through enhanced cooperation and dialogue with partners in the private sector.
[36] The Human Rights Commission cited that plight of migrant workers in New Zealand has received extensive mainstream media coverage on a range of issues including discrimination, exploitation and battles over work and entry visas.
The guidelines cover a range of topics including: disclosure; human rights; employment and industrial relations.