Creating union constitutions and rules

What must or may be included

Incorporated Societies Act requirements

Every incorporated society, including those that register as a union, must have a set of rules or constitution. This is an important legal document that sets out your society’s purposes, what it does and how it operates.

Societies registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 (1908 Act) have rules, while societies incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (2022 Act) have a constitution. Each of these Acts specifies what must be included in a society’s rules or constitution.

If you want to change the way your society operates, you can update your rules document (constitution). Your society’s existing rules document must set out how to make changes, so follow these processes to update or replace your rules or constitution. Any change you make will only take effect once it’s been registered with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies.

Employment Relations Act requirements

In addition to the requirements of the Incorporated Societies legislation the Employment Relations Act 2000 (ERA) has some specific requirements for a union’s set of rules or constitution.

It must be:

• democratic
• not unreasonable
• not unfairly discriminatory or prejudicial
• not contrary to law

Objects or purposes

A union’s constitution or rules must define its purpose or ‘objects’. They:

• must include an object, or a combination of objects, to promote members' collective employment interests
• should state all of the union’s objects, in terms that satisfy both its current and longer-term intentions
  (Please note — A union cannot legally undertake activities that fall outside its objects.)
• may also include objects related to members non-employment interests, for example, providing scholarships for the education of member's children, running holiday homes, securing discount arrangements with retailers.

Membership provisions

A union’s constitution or rules must also define who may join as a member. Membership can be defined in one or more of the following ways:

• Employees in a particular occupation, for example, plumbers or cleaners
• Employees in particular industries or sectors, for example, the manufacturing, retail, or construction industries, or the public sector
• Employees in a particular enterprise or workplace, for example, employees of Barry's Catering Ltd
• A combination of these approaches
• In other, more general terms.

Unions may have overlapping membership coverage. There is nothing in the ERA to prevent an employee joining more than one union.

Unions should be aware that there are close links between membership rules and union access rights, which means there may be confusion if membership rules are unclear.

Unions should also note that union members are automatically bound by collective agreements negotiated by the union. Some employees may not want the union to represent them for the purposes of collective bargaining. If so, unions should have another category of person (avoiding the word 'member') who can join the union for purposes other than collective bargaining.

The membership rules must:

• define clearly who can become a member
• set out how people can join the union
• set out how people cease to be members of the union. That is, how members can resign, and how (and in what circumstances) they can be expelled.

Fees

Union constitutions or rules generally specify some means of fixing and collecting union fees.

Members’ meetings

The constitution or rules must cover how meetings are called, how members (or their delegates) can participate in the meetings, how the meetings are conducted (chair, quorum, etc), and how voting takes place.

The constitution or rules must also contain provisions for holding a secret ballot (ERA).

Officers

The constitution or rules must specify how union ‘officers’ are elected.

They should also state who the union's officers are, their roles, who may seek election to officer positions (often restricted to members), and when and how an officer can be removed from office.

The traditional union ‘secretary’ may be an elected ‘officer’ but is often an employee who is appointed by the executive committee.

Related information

Keeping incorporated society details up to date — changing your constitution, rules, or name

More 'Registering as a union' guides:

• What the Employment Relations Act requires What the law requires of a registered union.
• How to register as a union Find out what you need to do to register as a union and the information you need to gather.