The Department of Labour’s Enforcement Role
The Department of Labour plays a leadership role in promoting, influencing, motivating, educating and informing those involved in workplaces. Sustainable compliance contributes directly to this leadership role.
Enforcement of employment entitlements is one component of the Department’s approach to workplace compliance. An enforcement action begins when the labour inspector believes a business has not complied with the relevant law, where discussions have failed to resolve the problem, and an investigation has been undertaken. Where a regulatory response is required, labour inspectors will make choices about the most appropriate approach from a mix of available options.
The functions of the labour inspector are defined in the Employment Relations Act 2000 to include determining that the relevant law has been complied with; taking all reasonable steps to ensure compliance; and supporting employers, workers and other people to comply through the provision of information and education.
Labour inspectors are employees of the Department and are guided by a code of conduct and specialist guidance on best practice. They are trained and resourced to do their job with professionalism, integrity and impartiality.
The labour inspectors have a range of tools for responding to non-compliance. These tools include the power to conduct an investigation; to enter into a voluntary and enforceable undertaking with a business that commits to resolve breaches of relevant legislation; to issue an improvement notice or demand notice that requires the business comply with the law; and, to seek a penalty action for non-compliance with a range of statutory obligations.
In some cases, a matter being investigated may fall within another jurisdiction, where the responsibility lies with the New Zealand Police, Inland Revenue or the Department’s Immigration Service. In such cases, the Department liaises with the relevant people to ensure the most appropriate management of the investigation. There may be cases where a number of investigations are being managed concurrently according to the relevant legislative responsibilities.
The Department aims to influence businesses to become compliant with the law. This means there is a strong focus on supporting employers through the provision of education and information and by addressing the systems and practices that underpin compliant workplace practices. Labour inspectors will first assist employers to understand and meet their obligations and they will enforce when they do not.
A labour inspector’s enforcement response is shaped by both policy and judgment. An important document that guides labour inspectors in exercising their discretion is the Labour Inspection Operational Manual. This manual steers inspectors through the filtering and prioritising of inquiries, describing decision-making parameters in the initial inquiry phase and the investigation process. The options available to labour inspectors include direct intervention, guided self-resolution, and circumstances where it may be appropriate that no further action will be taken.
Achieving Sustainable Compliance: The Department of Labour’s policy on the enforcement of Employment Standards is a policy statement that sits alongside other policies and procedures to inform our labour inspectors’ judgment.
