# Good faith in collective bargaining Official source: https://www.employment.govt.nz/fair-work-practices/unions-and-bargaining/collective-bargaining/good-faith-in-collective-bargaining Scanned: 2026-06-07T03:31:31.402Z Use this as a current official guidance reference, not as a substitute for legal advice. ## Page Text Home Fair work practices Unions and bargaining Collective bargaining Good faith in collective bargaining Collective bargaining Unions and bargaining Unions Employment Relations Education: courses and criteria Collective agreements Collective bargaining Collective bargaining process Starting collective bargaining Preparing for bargaining Preparing your team Negotiating the agreement Good faith in collective bargaining Passing on collective agreement terms After the negotiations Unable to agree Screen industry Strikes and lockouts Everyone Good faith in collective bargaining Unions and employers who are involved in collective bargaining must deal with each other in good faith. What good faith means Good faith means dealing with each other honestly, openly, and without misleading each other. It requires parties to be active and constructive in establishing and maintaining a productive relationship in which they are responsive and communicative. The duty of good faith applies in all of the various employment relationships, including: between an employer and an employee between an employer and a union in multi-party bargaining, each employer owes good faith obligations to each of the other employers, and each union. Each union owes good faith obligations to each of the other unions, each union’s members and each employer between a union and its members between a union and members of other unions in a workplace between an employer and different groups of employees in a workplace. Good faith in collective bargaining is an extension of the general good faith obligations in relationships between employers, employees and unions. Good faith Duty of good faith in collective bargaining The duty of good faith is a tool to promote rational, informed discussion and minimise the parties resorting to actions such as strikes or lockouts. Employers can’t stop bargaining or refuse to enter into a collective agreement just because they object in principle to collective bargaining. Likewise, the good faith provisions allow parties to use information to persuade, not to mislead or deceive. Having to bargain in good faith provides employers and unions with the best opportunity to reach a successful collective agreement (or variation). Approaching bargaining in a way that identifies issues and requires genuine consideration and response to those issues (with access to supporting information) promotes the prospects of an agreed outcome. All parties who are undertaking collective bargaining have to act in good faith under the law. Good faith provides a basis for productive and ongoing relationships between employers, employees and unions. Good faith applies throughout collective bargaining: from the start until the end of the bargaining process, and in correspondence and communications after the completion of bargaining. Good faith obligations recognise that: employers and employees share many common interests, but they also have separate interests. For example, they may have a common interest to work together to increase productivity, but may disagree about what should be done with any increased profit. productive employment relationships depend on people working together. This means focusing on common interests and managing competing interests in a way that maintains and builds relationships. managing separate interests can mean all parties have to compromise. When relationships are based on good faith, it’s easier to deal with the added pressures and issues that come up during collective bargaining. What good faith means in collective bargaining The duty of good faith underpins collective bargaining. At a minimum, unions and employers: are active and constructive in establishing and maintaining a productive employment relationship are responsive and communicative and use their best endeavours to agree on an effective and efficient bargaining process meet together to consider and respond to proposals if parties come to a standstill or reached a deadlock on a matter, they must continue to bargain about any other matters on which they have not reached an agreement don’t mislead or deceive each other recognise the role and authority of bargaining representatives don’t bargain, directly or indirectly, with persons other than bargaining representatives don’t undermine the bargaining process provide, on request, information that is reasonably necessary to support or substantiate claims or responses. In addition, the duty of good faith means that employers: are required to provide information to employees about any proposal that will or is likely to have an adverse impact on the continuation of their employment. Employers must also provide an employee with an opportunity to comment on that information, unless good reasons exist for maintaining confidentiality must not advise or do anything with the intention of inducing an employee not to be involved in collective bargaining, or not to be covered by a collective agreement must not pass on to employees not covered by a collective agreement, a term or condition agreed to in that agreement, where this is done with the intention of undermining the agreement and which has that effect. Limitations under good faith The duty of good faith places limits on the tactics each side may use to further their objectives. These limits include: not allowing strikes and lockouts during the first 40 days after bargaining starts, to encourage the parties to seek agreement at the table allowing parties to use information to persuade, but not to mislead or deceive. Employers can communicate to employees a statement of fact or an opinion reasonably held about their business or a union’s affairs. This includes statements about the employer’s proposals for settling the agreement. However, any such statement or opinion must not be made with the intention of persuading the employees not to be involved in collective bargaining, or not to be covered by a collective agreement. The employer must also continue to bargain with the employees’ representative and not with the union members directly. Some similar restrictions apply to unions when they’re bargaining with an employer or its representative. Good faith doesn’t: mean the parties have to put their own interests aside when they are negotiating. It allows vigorous bargaining, including economic pressure in the form of strikes and lockouts. restrict the subject matter of negotiations. It’s up to the parties to decide on the terms they wish to include in their collective agreement. assume that collective bargaining involves only calm, reasoned argument — bargaining often involves emotion, tension, grandstanding, and the use of pressure tactics. These are normal aspects of the process and good faith bargaining allows for this. Strikes and lockouts Disclosure of information Disclosing information to the other parties is a basic aspect of the duty of good faith. It promotes informed bargaining and good faith relationships, and is a way of understanding the parties’ separate interests. Code of Good Faith in Collective Bargaining The Code of Good Faith in Collective Bargaining gives employers and unions guidance on good faith when bargaining for a collective agreement or variation. There are specific codes of good faith for employment relationships for the New Zealand Police, and the public health sector which cover (but are broader than) collective bargaining. The code is important, and the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court may look at an approved code to see if parties have acted in good faith. Code of good faith in collective bargaining [PDF, 457 KB] Notice of Amendment to Code of Good Faith in Collective Bargaining – New Zealand Gazette I have approved the attached Code of Good Faith in Collective Bargaining under section 35(1) of the Employment Relations Act 2000 (Act). The changes from the previous code were recommended to me by the Committee for the Code of Good Faith in Collective Bargaining to reflect practices, developments and experiences in applying the duty of good faith under the Act and taking into account the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018. The new code comes into force on 6 May 2019. Accordingly as of that same day I have revoked, under section 38 of the Act, the existing Code of Good Faith in Collective Bargaining, approved by the then Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety, the Honourable Michael Woodhouse, on 6 March 2015. In accordance with section 39 of the Act, the Employment Relations Authority or Employment Court may have regard to an approved code in determining whether or not a union and an employer have dealt with each other in good faith in bargaining for a collective agreement. This means that if the parties can show that they have followed the code, the Authority or Court may consider this to be compliance with the good faith provisions of the Act. The code will also help parties to identify all the things they should be considering when trying to bargain in good faith. Dated this 2nd day of May 2019. Hon Iain Lees-Galloway Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Note that paragraph 1.7 was updated on 6 October 2023 to reflect the 12-month timeframe to lodge a personal grievance for sexual harassment in the workplace, as amended by the Employment Relations (Extended Time for Personal Grievance for Sexual Harassment) Amendment Act 2023. 1.1 The purpose of this generic code is to give guidance to employers and unions (‘parties’) on their duty to act in good faith when bargaining for a collective agreement or variation to a collective agreement under the Employment Relations Act 2000 (‘Act’). 1.2 This code is not a substitute for the Act. However, the Employment Relations Authority (‘Authority’) or the Employment Court (‘Court’) may have regard to it in determining whether or not the parties have dealt with each other in good faith in bargaining for a collective agreement. 1.3 Good faith under the Act requires the parties to an employment relationship, defined in section 4(2) of the Act, to be active and constructive in establishing and maintaining a productive employment relationship. This applies to the relationships between parties in multi-party collective bargaining, which includes employers in multi-employer collective agreement bargaining. Parties must be responsive and communicative and must not do anything likely to mislead or deceive each other. Therefore, when bargaining for a collective agreement the parties need to consider whether their actions will establish and maintain the type of relationship required. 1.4 The parties should also develop good faith practices that are consistent with the legal requirements of the Act. Employers and unions who act in good faith are more likely to have productive employment relationships. 1.5 Bargaining for a collective agreement (including a multi-party agreement) means all the interactions between the parties that relate to the bargaining. This includes negotiations and communications or correspondence (between or on behalf of the parties before, during, or after negotiations) that relate to the bargaining. Bargaining also includes interactions about a bargaining process agreement. 1.6 Disputes can arise over the interpretation of the words used in a collective agreement, therefore care should be taken to ensure that the wording clearly reflects the agreement reached. 1.7 There are certain matters in section 54(3) of the Act which must be included in collective agreements: a coverage clause, and the rates of wages or salary payable to employees bound by the collective agreement, and a plain language explanation of the services available for the resolution of employment relationship problems, including a reference to the time period to raise a personal grievance in section 114 of the Act (which is 12 months for a personal grievance relating to sexual harassment and 90 days for any other personal grievance), and a clause saying how the collective agreement can be varied, and the date or event on which the collective agreement expires. 1.8 The good faith matters set out in this code are not exhaustive. 2.1 In order to promote orderly collective bargaining the parties must use their best endeavours to enter into an arrangement, preferably in writing, as soon as possible after the initiation of bargaining, that sets out a process for conducting the bargaining in an effective and an efficient manner. Even if the parties cannot agree on an arrangement they must continue to bargain in good faith, and should endeavour to ensure that such bargaining is effective and efficient. 2.2 The parties should consider the following matters which may, where relevant and practicable, in whole or in part, make up any such arrangement: advice as to who will be the representative(s) or advocate(s) for the parties in the bargaining process, advice as to whom the representative(s) or advocate(s) represent, the size, composition and representative nature of the negotiating teams and how any changes will be dealt with, advice as to the identity of the individuals who comprise the negotiating teams, the presence, or otherwise, of observers, identification of who has authority to enter into an agreement, any limits on their authority, and signing off procedures, the proposed frequency of meetings, the proposed venue for meetings and who will be liable for any costs incurred, the proposed timeframe for the bargaining process, the manner in which proposals will be made and responded to, the manner in which any areas of agreement are to be recorded, when the parties consider that negotiation on any matter has been completed, and how that will be recorded, communication to interested parties during bargaining, the provision of information and costs associated with such provision, the appo