Employment Law Regime
The New Zealand employment law regime is governed mainly by the Employment Relations Act 2000 (“ERA”). The ERA came into force on 2 October 2000 and represented a major rehaul of employment law from its predecessor, the Employment Contracts Act 1991 (“ECA”). Employment contracts are now called employment agreements.
Employment Contracts
Individual agreements must be in writing and may contain any terms upon which the parties agree, but must include:
- The names of the employee and employer;
- A description of the work to be performed;
- An indication of where the employee will work;
- Any agreed hours of work, or if no hours of work are agreed, an indication of the arrangements relating to times the employee is to work;
- The wages or salary payable to the employee; and
- A plain language explanation of the services available for resolving employment relationship problems, including informing the employee about the 90 days during which he or she should raise personal grievances.
An employer must, when requested, provide employees with a copy of a signed employment agreement, or, where it has not been signed, an unsigned copy of that agreement.
Holiday’s in New Zealand
- New Year’s Day
- Day after New Year’s Day
- Waitangi Day
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
- Anzac Day
- Queen’s Birthday
- Matariki
- Labour Day
- Boxing Day
- Christmas Day
Termination of Employment
There is no statutory entitlement to severance pay (ie redundancy compensation) in New Zealand. However, parties to an employment agreement may negotiate severance payment terms, which then usually are set out in the agreement.
In case of an unjustified dismissal,. there are several remedies that the Authority or Court can order in accordance with the ERA on a finding on unjustifiable dismissal, including:
- Reinstatement of the employee to their position, or one that is no less advantageous to them;
- Reimbursement for lost wages, benefits, and other money lost as a result of the dismissal;
- Compensation for hurt, humiliation, loss of dignity, distress, etc;
- Costs, eg legal expenses, incurred in pursuing the personal grievance.
Employers must give the notice period stipulated in the written employment agreement when terminating an employee’s employment. Where no notice period is specified (which is uncommon now that the ERA requires all employment agreements to be in writing), then “reasonable” notice must be given (usually a minimum of about four weeks).
Kiwi Saver
KiwiSaver is a voluntary, work-based retirement savings scheme. Independent KiwiSaver providers run the savings schemes. You can choose one of them to manage your savings. KiwiSaver is for all New Zealand citizens and permanent residents living or normally living in New Zealand. Members can still get New Zealand Superannuation when they reach 65.
