Munro Leys says some of the proposed changes in the Employment Relations Bill may breach basic constitutional rights

One of the top legal firms in the country, Munro Leys has said in a legal alert that some proposed changes in the Employment Relations Bill, particularly the ones which attempt to use criminal law as a blunt instrument to improve employee rights – are poorly targeted and work against good regulation.

They say these proposed changes reflect a mindset in which all employers are treated as “big and bad” and must be threatened with fines and imprisonment to follow the law.

The law firm says the Ministry’s solution is to give more power to its own officials to ignore due process and fairness.

Munro Leys says the new law will impose new costs and risks on employers, and it will discourage employers from employing staff and it will burden SME employers especially.

They say the Employment Ministry needs to re-think its attitude and approach to the unusual new criminal measures it wants to enact.

The law firm says it seems evident that the Ministry (and perhaps labour organisations) are frustrated that current employment laws are slow and cumbersome to administer and enforce.

They say while in many cases that is true, there is a better solution – do the necessary work to make the current rights-based employment law system more efficient.

Munro Leys says some of these law changes may breach basic constitutional rights.

They add many of the major changes in the Employment Relations (Amendment) Bill 2025, in their view, are not sensible.

The changes, if they are passed by Parliament, will include “instant fines” for employers of up to $1,000, “absolute liability” for underpaid wages (“wage theft”) even where this occurred by mistake or oversight, other fines and monetary penalties of up to $1 million, jail terms for employers, including for directors of corporate employers making employers criminally liable for workplace issues such as sexual harassment or unjustified dismissals or “unfair” redundancies expanding the powers of labour inspectors, including the power to prosecute employers for failing to comply with their directives (reasonable or otherwise), and imposing “bargaining fees” on non-unionised workers where unionised employees receive any improvement in their terms

The 106-page Bill contains 142 amendments.

Munro Leys says earlier consultation rounds were ineffective and shrouded in secrecy for no obvious reason.

Both union and employer representatives consulted in the initial drafting of the Bill were legally prevented from sharing proposed law changes with their members.

They add the process to formulate the Bill on issues which affect how hundreds of thousands of people work was poor to start with.

Consultations continue on the Bill.