Employment Relationships: New Zealand’s Employment Relations Act

Edited by E Rasmussen

Auckland University Press, 2004

$54.95

Employment Relationships: New Zealand’s Employment Relations Act assesses the trends and major changes in the state of New Zealand’s employment relations affairs since the passing of the New Zealand Employment Relations Act 2000.

Edited by University of Auckland academic Erling Rasmussen, the book is a compilation of contributions from employment lawyers, academics, government representatives and the like. It looks at the ramifications of the Act from the perspectives of employers, union members, academics and government. It provides suggestions on possible amendments to the Act for better efficacy, and includes discussions on good faith bargaining, changes to union structures and new industrial issues that have come about as a result of the introduction of the Act.

It’s interesting to note the similarities between the New Zealand Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Workplace Relations Act 1996 here. With the inevitable march of globalisation, the swing towards big business is also having a noticeable impact in New Zealand.

Worth browsing the chapters if you have HR or employee relations responsibilities across the Tasman, otherwise there’s little in this for Australian HR professionals.