Employer of Record New Zealand
New Zealand Statutory Leave
Employer of Record New Zealand
Download our full New Zealand Employment Guide
Find out all about employing in New Zealand
New Zealand Maternity Leave
Primary carer leave is available to pregnant employees, and can be transferred wholly or in part to their spouse/partner if they will become the primary carer of the child after birth. Primary carer leave is also available to an employee who adopts, or otherwise takes on the permanent care of a child under 6 years old, provided they will act as the child’s primary caregiver.
To be eligible for parental leave, the employee must have worked an average of 10 hours per week for at least 26 weeks of the 52 weeks prior to the child’s expected due date.
Basic leave is 26 weeks, and can start up to 6 weeks before the expected due date, or earlier if the employer agrees. Pregnant employees may start their primary carer leave early if the child is born early, (the employee may be entitled to preterm baby leave and payments in this case), if directed to by a doctor or midwife, if the employer cannot provide a safe working environment, or the pregnancy impacts the employee’s ability to perform their job satisfactorily. In this case, the primary carer is entitled to 20 weeks of leave after the birth, even if this takes them over the 26 weeks of leave ordinarily available. This extra leave does not impact their entitlement to extended leave.
Payments during primary carer leave are paid by the inland revenue at 100% of the employee’s salary, capped at NZ $661.12 a week. If stated in the employment contract, an employer may agree to top this up to the employee’s full rate of pay. A minimum, a payment of NZ $212 a week will be made during primary carer leave.
Paternity Leave in New Zealand
The partner of a pregnant employee who will not be the primary carer of the child after birth may be entitled to take 1 or 2 weeks of unpaid partner leave, according to the following criteria;
- 1 week – worked 6 months for an average of 10+ hours per week
- 2 weeks – worked 12 months for an average of 10+ hours per week
Leave may be taken in a window which begins 21 days before the expected due date, and ends 21 days after the child’s birth.
Negotiated Carer Leave in New Zealand
If an employee has worked for an average 10 hours per week for 26 of the past 52 weeks, but not for the same employer, and will become the primary carer for a child, they will be eligible for parental leave payments, but will not be entitled to take parental leave. In this case, they can ask their employer for negotiated carer leave.
Under certain circumstances the employer may refuse this, but will have to provide the employee with a timely written explanation of the reasons.
New Zealand Annual Leave
Employees, whether full or part-time, receive 20 paid vacation days per year. After working for the company for a full calendar year, workers are entitled to paid vacation time, which accrues at a rate of 1.67 days per month.
In addition to this, New Zealand celebrates 10 public holidays, which are taken as paid leave if they fall on a regular working day. Employees who work on a public holiday are paid at a rate of 150% their regular salary, and granted an alternative day off.
Public Holidays in New Zealand
There are 10 public holidays in New Zealand, including the following:
- New Year’s Day – 1 January
- Day after New Year’s Day – 2 January (observed)
- Waitangi Day – 6 February
- Good Friday – varies (usually in March or April)
- Easter Monday – varies (usually in March or April)
- ANZAC Day – 25 April
- Queen’s Birthday – first Monday in June
- Labour Day – fourth Monday in October
- Christmas Day – 25 December
- Boxing Day – 26 December
If a public holiday falls on a weekend, the following Monday (or Tuesday, in the case of Christmas Day and Boxing Day) is observed as a public holiday instead. Additionally, some regions in New Zealand also have their own regional anniversary days, which are observed as public holidays in those regions.
New Zealand Sick Leave
To be eligible for sick leave and employee must been working for their current employer for the previous 6 months, for at least 10 hours on average per week, and at least one hour every week, or 40 hours per month for the entire 6 month period.
Sick leave may be taken if the employee is unwell or injured, or if a person who is dependent on them, such as a spouse or young child, is ill or injured and requires care. Employers may ask for proof.
If an employee is eligible for sick pay, they are entitled to 10 days per year, and may carry over 10 unused days per year, bringing the maximum annual entitlement up to 20 days.
Other Statutory Leave in New Zealand
Special leave: In addition to primary carer leave, pregnant employees are entitled to up to 10 days of unpaid special leave for pregnancy related reasons, such as midwife appointments.
Extended leave: Entitled employees may take up to 52 weeks extended leave (less the number of weeks primary carer leave taken, up to 26 weeks). If both parents are eligible for extended leave, they may share this between them as they see fit, but are not entitled to extra leave.
Extended leave may begin immediately after primary carer leave, and must be concluded within a year of the child’s birth, or a year after assuming responsibility for the child.
Wondering if expanding
in New Zealand is right for you?
Read on or speak to a member of our team now
learn more
We are New Zealand Employer of Record experts
We have extensive experience helping businesses expand their workforce in New Zealand. Take a look at our areas of expertise to find out more:
Find out how payroll works in New Zealand and what you can expect when it comes to salaries, bonuses and rates of pay
We will take care of all Payroll, HR and Legal processing with a fully-manged EOR service in New Zealand.
Unsure what’s required when employing staff in New Zealand? Find out about New Zealand Work Permits and Visas
Wondering what it’s like to work in New Zealand? We’ve got you covered in our extensive guide
Learn more about how you can attract and retain staff in New Zealand with both statutory and enhanced employee benefits
Without Agility EOR, our ability to move quickly and scale would be extremely limited. Superb work from A to Z.
Carol Oliveira
Learn more
Frequently Asked Questions
Payrolling the employees is a key part of the service offered by an employer of record company. The EOR will calculate and remit all taxes, social securities and similar payments, on behalf of both employer and employee. The client will be invoiced in advance by the EOR company, for the total cost of the payroll.
Yes. Our clients are free to dictate the structure of the employees’ remuneration including any bonuses or commissions they wish to offer. In some countries, there is a statutory requirement to provide “bonuses”, for example in the form of Christmas or holiday allowances.
Yes. Agility EOR will calculate what pay is due upon termination of an employee, factoring in such things as any untaken leave entitlements.
We find that most of our clients are in the Tech, IT, Finance and Professional Services industries. However, we have acquired the skills, knowledge and experience to help all industries across the globe.
As a private company, we’re not beholden to shareholders or asset-shredding Private Equity targets. We aim to build long-term relationships with our clients. At Agility EOR, our approach is that we never forget that our business is all about people. Our Employer of Record solutions are tailored to each requirement, not a one-size-fits-all tech platform. We do the right thing by our clients and by the laws of each country we operate in. And we believe in openness; if we don’t feel we can offer you the best solution for a specific territory, we’ll say so.
We pride ourselves on our personable-approach so once you enter your new employees details into our dedicated platform, we’ll arrange a call with you to go through the details of the employment contract where together we can review and amend to your requirements. We liaise directly with your employee to build a rapport and obtain the necessary information to hire them compliantly, and set them up ready for their first payroll.
We never stop delivering! Even if you’re employee has been onboarded and is happily working for you and being paid each month, we’re here to partner with you whenever you or your employees need us. Even your ex-employees may need our assistance for tax documents, proof of employment requests etc… Our service never stops!