Default employee participation system
To get an employee participation system that suits each workplace best, employers, employees and unions should co-operate in good faith to agree to an employee participation system.
The Act gives these parties 6 months to agree on a system, starting:
- when the Act comes into force (for an employer with more than 30 employees already); or
- when the employer first employs 30 employees; or
- an employee requests an employee participation system.
Help to work through any issues of disagreement is available from a mediator if necessary.
If the parties can't agree within this time, the Act sets out a system that will apply to the workplace. The system is different depending on the size of the workplace.
If there are fewer than 30 employees and a system is required, the employees, together with any union, must elect at least one health and safety representative.
If there are more than 30 employees, then there must be an election for:
- at least one health and safety representative to act independently; or
- up to 5 health and safety representatives to be members of a health and safety committee.
If there is a committee, the health and safety representatives must make up at least half the committee.
Go to:
- Employee participation systems
- Electing health and safety representatives
- Functions of health and safety representatives
- Training for health and safety representatives
- Fact sheet: Employee participation systems pdf file [size: 31KB]
- Fact sheet: Health and safety representatives pdf file [size: 31KB]
