Your legal rights as a worker: Where they come from
Your guaranteed minimum rights that come from outside your employment agreement
Rights set by Acts like the Employment Relations Act
The Employment Relations Act sets out the basic legal framework for things like negotiating and entering into employment agreements, belonging to a union, going on strike, and resolving employment problems
Other Acts set out minimum conditions that apply to all employees (although you’re also free to negotiate better conditions with your employer). For example, the Holidays Act 2003 sets out your minimum rights to annual leave, public (“statutory”) holidays, sick leave and bereavement leave, while minimum wage rates are provided for by the Minimum Wage Act.
Other Acts give you minimum protections in certain areas. For example, the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 requires your employer to provide a safe workplace, while the Human Rights Act 1993 requires employers to treat all employees equally, regardless of factors such as race, gender and relationship status (see: “Discrimination”).
Basic rights and obligations implied into all employment agreements
The law treat some basic obligations as being implied in all employment agreements, regardless of an agreement’s specific terms.
