Introduction
1.These explanatory notes relate to the Employment Relations Act 2004 (“the Act”), which received Royal Assent on 16 September 2004. They have been prepared by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in order to assist the reader in understanding the Act. They do not form part of the Act and have not been endorsed by Parliament.
2.The notes need to be read in conjunction with the Act. They are not, and are not meant to be, a comprehensive description of the Act. So where a section or part of a section does not seem to require any explanation or comment, none is given.
3.Because this Act contains a number of parts, covering several subject areas, each of the main areas is introduced and described separately in the commentary (although a short explanation of the background is given in paragraph 4). Paragraph 6 gives a brief overview of the Act’s structure.