New Zealand employment guides for employers
Straight answers on pay, tax and leave for employers who run a roster in New Zealand. Written from the Holidays Act, the Minimum Wage Act and Inland Revenue’s rules, and checked against Employment New Zealand and Inland Revenue.
Pay and tax
The floor under every pay, and what comes off it before it reaches the bank.
Minimum wage NZ 2026
The $23.95 adult rate and $19.16 starting-out and training rates from 1 April 2026, who gets which, what counts as work and which deductions are allowed.
Read the guidePAYE for employers
Tax brackets, the 1.75% ACC earners’ levy, tax codes, KiwiSaver and student loan deductions — with one weekly pay worked through line by line.
Read the guideKiwiSaver employer contributions
3.5% from 1 April 2026 and 4% from 2028, ESCT, the new rules for 16 and 17 year olds, opt-outs and savings suspensions.
Read the guidePayday filing
Employment information within 2 working days of payday, what the schedule holds, new and departing employees, and when deductions are paid.
Read the guideHolidays and leave
The Holidays Act until August 2028 — and the otherwise-working-day test that decides most of it.
The Holidays Act 2003 for employers
Four weeks after 12 months, the greater of ordinary weekly pay and average weekly earnings, relevant and average daily pay, and when 8% is lawful.
Read the guidePublic holidays 2026
All 2026 national and anniversary dates, Mondayisation, time and a half, and when working a holiday earns an alternative holiday.
Read the guideSick leave in NZ
Ten days after 6 months, carry-over to 20, when you can ask for a medical certificate and who pays, and family violence leave.
Read the guideFree tools and templates
The guides explain the rules. These do the arithmetic.
Holidays Act leave calculator
Ordinary weekly pay against average weekly earnings, side by side — and which one you have to pay.
Open the calculatorMinimum wage checker
Check what your staff are effectively paid per hour once unpaid time is counted, against the rate that applies to them.
Open the checkerTimesheet calculator
Total a week of start and finish times, minus unpaid meal breaks, ready for payroll.
Open the calculatorFree NZ roster templates
Weekly, fortnightly and monthly rosters in Excel with New Zealand leave codes built in.
Browse the templatesNeed a term rather than a guide? The NZ employment glossary defines otherwise working day, relevant daily pay, alternative holiday, payday filing and the rest in a sentence each.
Running all of this across a shift-based team is where the rules stop being theoretical. RosterElf’s rostering software, clock-in records and leave management keep the roster, the hours actually worked and the leave in one place.
Built for New Zealand shift-based teams
Rosters, clocking in, leave and payroll export in one platform — with the records the Holidays Act calculations depend on.
Real support from people who understand your business
Support isn't a ticket system here — it's part of the product. Our team helps you set up your roster correctly, works through leave and public holiday questions with you, and stays available as your team changes.
-
Guided setup and onboarding
-
Leave and public holiday questions answered
-
Ongoing help as your team grows
Questions about NZ employment rules
- Employers and managers in New Zealand who run a roster — hospitality, retail, care, cleaning and similar. They answer the questions that come up when you schedule and pay people, rather than serving as a general HR reference.
- Each guide lists the Employment New Zealand, Inland Revenue or legislation pages it was checked against, and the date. The figures that change most often move on 1 April: the minimum wage, the ACC earners’ levy and, in 2026 and 2028, the KiwiSaver default rate.
- No. These are general summaries, and every guide carries a disclaimer saying so. Entitlements depend on employment agreements and individual circumstances — check Employment New Zealand or Inland Revenue, or take advice, before relying on any of it for a specific case.