About this booklet

This booklet is a brief guide to the International Labour Conventions that New Zealand has ratified at 31 August 2008.

For readers who may not be familiar with the background to international standards on labour issues, the booklet provides a brief account of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and the role played by International Labour Conventions and Recommendations.

This booklet provides summaries of each of the Conventions that New Zealand has ratified, together with the agencies that administer them and a brief outline of how New Zealand implements them (including references to relevant pieces of legislation). Some relevant legislation may have been omitted, although every attempt has been made to ensure that this booklet is as accurate as possible. Each entry also shows when New Zealand ratified the Convention and the total number of countries that have ratified it, as at 31 August 2008.

Entries in this booklet are in numerical order, which is also by date of adoption by the ILO. In Appendices 1, 2 and 3, the Conventions ratified by New Zealand are listed in numerical order, then by subject matter, and then by relevant statute respectively. Conventions that New Zealand ratified and then subsequently denounced are included in Appendix 4, while Appendix 5 contains a list of all ILO Conventions.

Some Conventions contain references to the 'Competent Authority'. For most purposes in a New Zealand context, this should be regarded as a reference to the House of Representatives.

Tokelau is New Zealand's only remaining dependent non-metropolitan territory and therefore the only one for which New Zealand retains responsibility for the application of Conventions. Each entry shows whether the ratification has been extended to include Tokelau.

The Government maintains an ongoing review of employment relations issues. These may result in changes to the way New Zealand implements the provisions of ratified Conventions.

This publication is a guide only and should not be used as a substitute for the Convention texts or for New Zealand legislation. The Department of Labour takes no responsibility for the results of any action taken on the basis of the information in this booklet, nor for any errors or omissions.

Full text versions of Conventions may be obtained from International Services, Department of Labour, PO Box 3705, Wellington, New Zealand; or by emailing International.Services@dol.govt.nz. Alternatively, full text versions of Conventions may also be obtained online from the ILO website (www.ilo.org).