Understanding your employment agreement

Every employee in New Zealand must have a written employment agreement. Read what it must include, what you can negotiate, and which minimum rights still apply even if they are not written down.

When you are offered a job in New Zealand, your employer must give you a written employment agreement. Employment New Zealand describes this as a written document setting out the terms and conditions of employment agreed by the employer and employee. You can ask your employer to explain anything you do not understand, take the intended agreement away to read it carefully, and ask for advice from someone you trust, such as a union representative or a lawyer.

Once you understand the agreement, Employment New Zealand says you can turn down the offer, accept it as it is, or request changes to some terms or extra terms you would like to add. Employers and employees must negotiate in good faith. Employment New Zealand also says you should only start work once you have agreed to your terms and conditions and signed an updated agreement.

An individual employment agreement must include the names of the employer and the employee, a description of the work, an indication of the place of work, the agreed hours or an indication of the hours, the wage rate or salary payable and how it will be paid, a clear explanation of how to resolve employment relationship problems, and a statement that the employee will get at least time-and-a-half payment for working on a public holiday. Fixed-term employment must be recorded in the agreement with a genuine reason why it is a fixed term.

Minimum employment rights set by law still apply even if they are not written in the agreement. Employment New Zealand gives examples that include the relevant minimum wage and four weeks of annual holidays a year once the employee has worked there for 12 months. An employment agreement cannot reduce those minimum rights or trade them off for other things. When entering into an employment agreement, an employer must also inform you about your entitlements under the Holidays Act 2003 and that you can obtain further information from a union or by contacting Employment New Zealand.