application guide for employment relations education course approval

On this page:

• Checklist for course approval
• About applying for course approval
• Background
• Criteria for course approval
• Criteria for consistency with the Act
• Quality assurance criteria
• Who can apply
• Monitoring
• Reporting requirements
• How to apply

Checklist

Your application should include:

• a contact person
• organisation name
• postal address
• phone number, and
• an email address (if applicable).

Please set out your application in the following order.

(a) Overview of the Course

• Title: This should reflect the learning outcomes.
• Target group: Who is your target audience?
• Aim of course.
• Length of course.
• Learning outcomes: These should be measurable, and specifically identify the skills and knowledge to be gained by applicants.
• Evaluation: How will you evaluate whether the course has achieved its stated outcome? What type of evaluation form will you use and what questions will you ask?
• Assessment: How do you propose to assess the participants understanding of the course? For example, what procedure will you use, (role play; phone questionnaire; postal questionnaire etc.), and when will you carry this out (will you assess the participants understanding during the course, immediately after the course; after two weeks; after one month, etc)?

(b) Programme

• Outline the plan for the day(s).
• Outline how you intend to deliver the programme (e.g. by presentation, workshop or group exercise).
• Resources: Outline what written, video, computer or other resources are required for the course and distinguish what you will provide from what the participants will provide, if any.

(c) Employment Relations Education Leave (EREL) Criteria

• Provider/Deliverer: who will develop and/or deliver the course and their relevant qualifications and experience.
• Geographic Location.
• Consistency with the Act.
• Rationale for Learning Outcomes.
• Quality Assurance.

Note:
The ERE Programme has been in operation since 2001 and a significant number of ERE courses have now been developed and approved for ERE. To avoid course duplication, please check the list of ERE approved courses to see whether an existing course might suit your purpose. If so, you will need to contact the provider to discuss if and how you might use that course. See Guidelines on using pre-approved courses.

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About applying for course approval

The entitlement to Employment Relations Education Leave under the Employment Relations Act 2000 can be exercised only in respect of approved courses of ERE. These ERE courses must meet the objectives of the Act.

The Employment Relations Act's objective is to build productive employment relationships through the promotion of mutual trust and confidence. The aim of ERE is, therefore, to increase skills and knowledge of employment matters to improve relationships in the workplace and enable employers, employees and unions to deal with each other in good faith.

All applications must meet criteria showing that the course covers topics consistent with the Act, and must meet quality assurance criteria. Applications can be made by any individual, group or organisation that wishes to provide employment relations education, and courses submitted for approval will be accepted throughout the year.

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Background

Employment relations education leave (EREL) is a collective entitlement held and administered by unions and allocated to employees. The leave can be used only for education that is approved under section 72 of the Act. This ensures that all courses provide good quality and relevant ERE.

A contestable fund is available to assist with the development and running of employment relations education courses. Applications to the fund will be sought annually. For the purpose of administering the fund and ensuring that they meet the objectives of the Act and are educationally sound, these courses will need to be approved even if they are not designed for employees eligible for ERE Leave. The fund is open to organisations/group(s) that wish to provide employment relations education, and who fall under the following categories:

• a registered union
• a union organisation
• an employer
• an employers' organisation, or
• any other provider recognised under the Education Act or by NZQA.

The Minister of Labour has delegated to the Employment Relations Education Ministerial Advisory Committee authority to approve (or otherwise) submitted course applications. In most cases, the Chair of the Advisory Committee acts on behalf of the Committee, but dependent on the recommendations of a panel of experts who examine each application in detail against the criteria as set out below. The Committee also considers all applications to the ERE contestable fund and recommends to the Minister their approval or otherwise.

All the processes relating to course approval and/or applications for funding are administered by the Workplace Group, Department of Labour.

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Criteria for approval

Employment Relations Education courses are approved for two purposes. The first is to enable courses to be approved for the purpose of exercising the statutory right to educational leave for eligible employees under Part 7 of the Employment Relations Act 2000. The second is an administrative purpose where courses or developing courses need to be approved or able to be approved as a prerequisite for funding from the Employment Relations Education Contestable Fund.

For the first purpose, in order to gain approval of their course applicants must ensure that their course will further the objective of ERE leave set out in section 70 of the Employment Relations Act 2000, that is, to increase employees' knowledge about employment relations for the purpose of:

1. improving relations among unions, employees, and employers, and
2. promoting the object of the Act, especially the duty of good faith.

Under the second purpose of approval, where approval of a course for which an application has been made to the ERE Contestable Fund is needed, applicants must ensure that the course is consistent or relevant to the objects of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

The object of the Act is -

1. to build productive employment relationships through the promotion of mutual trust and confidence in all aspects of the employment environment and of the employment relationship -
   1. by recognising that employment relationships must be built on good faith behaviour
   2. by acknowledging and addressing the inherent inequality of bargaining power in employment relationships
   3. by promoting collective bargaining
   4. by protecting the integrity of individual choice
   5. by promoting mediation as the primary problem-solving mechanism
   6. by reducing the need for judicial intervention.
2. to promote observance in New Zealand of the principles underlying International Labour Organisation Convention 87 on Freedom of Association, and Convention 98 on the Right to Organise and Bargain Collectively.

ERE courses should also recognise the complementary legislation governing employment relations within which ERE courses must operate, which includes (but is not limited to) the Human Rights Act 1993, the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 and the Privacy Act 1993.

In particular ERE courses should be designed to provide the skills and knowledge relevant in employment relations in a manner that recognises and reduces current gaps in the access to information, resources, and skills.

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Criteria for consistency with the Act

Courses may deliver skill development and knowledge including but not limited to the following areas:

1.  
   • The principles underlying good faith behaviour, including the specifics of any code of good faith applicable to the employees and employers concerned
   • Behaviours and processes that enhance the good faith relationship
   • The ability to assess and convey to others information exchanged during employment interactions, and
   • Participating in the institutions established under the Act.
2.  
   • Processes, behaviours and communication skills that lead to the creation of mutual trust and confidence
   • Concepts of employee and union participation in the workplace, and
   • Understanding of the rights and obligations of both employee and employer in the workplace.
3.  
   • The ability to recognise and respond to the legislative concepts of unfair bargaining and minimum employment standards.
4.  
   • The legislative underpinnings of the collective bargaining process, including the transitional processes from the Employment Contracts Act to the Employment Relations Act
   • Bargaining skills and behaviours, and
   • Communication skills and behaviours.
5.  
   • The legislative requirements for the establishment and maintenance of independent and democratic unions
   • Methods of union organisation giving maximum opportunities for participation and influence to employees, and
   • The processes and structures of policy development, decision making and governance within the union.
6.  
   • The rights and obligations of employees and employers for health and safety in the workplace
   • Programs of risk analysis and problem solving, and
   • Effective representation skills, tools in risk analysis, and training.
7. • The history of and past and present relevance of the Treaty of Waitangi to employment relations
   • Workplace issues of specific significance to Maori and Pacific Island employees, and
   • Establishing an employment culture that contributes to closing the gaps for Maori and Pacific Island employees
8.  
   • The structure of enterprise and industry economics affecting the employer and employees
   • Career, production and remuneration systems applicable to the workplace or industry
   • Economic structures, institutions and processes in New Zealand that are relevant to employment relations, and
   • The ability to analyse proposals against the test of equity of outcomes relevant to the employment situation
9.  
   • Specific strategies required to reduce disparities in the workplace and economy for groups likely to be disadvantaged in the labour market.

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Quality Assurance Criteria

Applicants must provide in respect of each course for which they are seeking approval:

1. a statement that they have checked the list of approved ERE courses to see whether an existing course might suit their purpose
2. an outcome statement which reflects the expected effect of the course on individuals participating
3. a programme for the day(s)
4. an indication of the standard of qualifications and/or experience and/or training of those delivering the course
5. details of the resources to be provided to the participants. Applicants are required to submit all materials that will be used to teach the course(s) (e.g, manuals, resources or participant workbooks)
6. a statement of how the provider will assess the participants' understanding of the course material
7. a copy of the evaluation processes to be undertaken to ascertain whether the course has achieved its stated objectives
8. a profile of the target group for the programme.

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Who can apply?

Applications can be made by any individual, group or organisation that wishes to provide employment relations education. There is no limit on the number of proposals that an applicant may submit. Applications will be assessed on the basis of the criteria set above.

This applies to ERE course approval applications only. There are set eligibility criteria for ERE Contestable Fund applications. For detailed information see the Guidelines for ERE Contestable Fund.

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Monitoring

The quality of courses and their consistency with the objectives of ERE as set out in section 70 of the Act are assured through the application of the criteria through the approval process. Approval will be given for 2 years, and any application for re-approval will be assessed on whether the course continues to meet the criteria. In addition, the range of courses will be monitored to ensure that the spectrum of education provided is consistent with the objectives of ERE, and with wider government policies to improve standards and ensure that appropriate target groups are reached.

To encourage the development of best practice examples and the sharing of information about approved courses to reduce duplication, information on approved courses is held by the Department of Labour and made available to interested parties. This information includes:

1. name of course
2. course category as defined by criteria, for example good faith, health and safety, etc
3. type of course: course for union delegates/employers or members/management
4. course objective, or outline
5. length of course: e.g. half day, 3 days, 5 days
6. proposed geographic location of course delivery
7. provider/deliverer of course, and
8. date course approved.

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Reporting requirements

In order to monitor the Employment Relations Education Programme and report to the Minister of Labour on the progress of the Programme, the Department of Labour needs to collect a range of information about the delivery of approved ERE courses.

The reports on course deliveries that providers are required to provide are a key part of this information. Providers are required to report to the Department of Labour on a quarterly basis, on all courses delivered. Providers must submit their quarterly reports on all courses delivered during a quarter within two weeks after the end of that quarter.

Providers must use the standard form (PDF 77KB or Word 61KB) so that consistent information is collected in a form that can be entered into the Department of Labour's database.

For each course that is delivered the reports must include the following information:

• the geographic location of each course delivery
• how many participants attended each course delivery, broken down by gender and ethnicity and including the number of participants who chose not to provide this information. Please note that while we require course providers to ask participants for this information, under the Privacy Act 1993 providers must tell participants the purpose for which the information is being collected (to obtain statistical information about the ERE programme), and that participants may choose not to provide it
• the duration of each course delivery, and
• summary of course evaluation including a random sample of participant responses.

The information provided will only be used for monitoring and statistical purposes.

The following information is held by the Department of Labour for monitoring purposes:

1. identity of those who proposed course initially
2. target group
3. a copy of the mechanism to be used to assess the participants' understanding of the course material
4. a copy of the evaluation processes to be undertaken after the programme to ascertain whether the course has achieved its stated objectives, and
5. copies of the quarterly reports on course delivery described above (or quarterly reports as from 1 July 2003).

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How to apply

Applications for approval can be e-mailed to the Executive Officer ERE or posted to:

Employment Relations Education Course Approvals
Workplace Group
Department of Labour
P O Box 3705
WELLINGTON

The application should include:

• The information set out in the Checklist and relevant monitoring information, and
• Contact person, organisation name, address, phone number and email address.

Please note

• It may take up to 4–6 weeks (in some instances longer) to process applications and issue course approvals.
• Applicants wishing to use already approved ERE courses please refer to the guidelines for using pre-approved courses.

For further information please email the Executive Officer ERE; or by phone 04 915 4552; or fax 04 915 4710.

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This page was last updated on: 10-Feb-2010 and is current.