Hire and pay employees in
New Zealand, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in New Zealand. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

The average onboarding time frame in New Zealand is 2 days with Deel.

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Currency

New Zealand Dollar (NZD)

Capital

Wellington

Official Language

English

Payroll Cycle

Monthly

Onboard, pay and manage employees in New Zealand with Deel.

Usually, to hire in New Zealand, your business needs an entity. That means a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank. All of this, plus navigating regional benefits, payroll, tax, and HR laws, can take months.

Deel lets you hire employees in New Zealand quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more. For your existing direct employees, we can manage your entire payroll operation from end-to-end.

Download the Guide

All the necessary benefits for New Zealand
built right in

Deel allows you to provide localized benefits for employees in New Zealand within minutes. All in one manageable online dashboard.

  • Holiday Accrual
  • Pension
  • Work Accident Insurance
  • Private Healthcare - Unisure (optional)
  • Private Healthcare - Allianz (optional)
  • Global Life Insurance - Allianz

Our quickstart guide to hiring in New Zealand

Navigate the tabs below to learn everything you need to know about hiring an employee in New Zealand

Pay & Tax Leave Policy Termination Statutory time off Onboarding Additional info

Minimum Wage Requirements

In New Zealand, the minimum wage is generally NZD 22.70 per hour. In special cases for training and early employment the minimum wage is NZD 18.16 per hour. 

Effective April 1, 2024, these rates will increase to NZD 23.15 per hour and NZD 18.52 per hour respectively.

Individual Income Tax

The individual income tax ranges from 10.5% to 39%. Income tax is calculated according to progressive rates. Multiple additional factors may impact overall rates such as the household status and the number of children.

Gross Annual Income (pre-July 31 2024)

 Gross Annual Income (post-July 31 2024) Tax Rate (%)
Up to NZD - 14,000 Up to NZD - 15,600 10.5%
 NZD 14,001 - 48,000  NZD 15,601 - 53,500 17.5%
NZD 48,001 -70,00 NZD 73,500-78,100 30%
NZD 70,001 - 180,000 NZD 78,101 - 180,000 33%
Over NZD - 180,000 Over NZD - 180,000 39%

Payroll Cost

The employer cost is generally estimated at 3.21% of the employee salary.
- Employer KiwiSaver / ESCT - 3%
- Employer ACC Levy - 0.21% up to a maximum monthly salary for the contribution of NZD 11,856.9167

 

These costs are provided as estimates and are intended solely for general informational purposes. To fully comprehend all associated costs and fees related to the terms of any employment agreement for this country, please contact our Sales team for a quote.

Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours

Overtime payment is not mandatory. If there is overtime, hours worked on a public holiday are paid at 150% of the regular hourly rate. 

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard workweek is from Monday to Friday.

Maternity Leave

In New Zealand, maternity leave, known as Primary Carer Leave, can be complex. Employees who have become the primary care provider to a child under the age of 6 and have worked 10 hours a week for 12 months are entitled to up to 26 weeks of paid leave. The employee will receive average salary during this period capped at NZD 661.12 gross a week, and the Government will be responsible for this pay. Employers may agree to top up the payments to the amount of the employees' full pays.

Paternity Leave

Employees are entitled to between 1 and 2 weeks of unpaid paternity leave. The leave can be taken from 21 days before birth and 21 days after. Leave varies depending on the length of services:

  • 1 week - if they’ve worked for 6 months for at least an average of 10 hours a week
  • 2 weeks - if they’ve worked for 12 months for at least an average of 10 hours a week

Parental Leave

Employees are entitled to 26 weeks of parental leave. Both parents can decide how to distribute the time off. Either parent can take parental leave. Parental leave is unpaid.

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to paid sick leave for up to 10 days every 12 month period if either:
  • They have six months’ current continuous employment with the same employer
  • They have worked for the employer for six months for an average of 10 hours per week, and at least one hour in every week or 40 hours every month
The employee will receive 100% of their average salary, paid by the employer. Any unused sick leave can be rolled over to the following 12 month period for a maximum of 20 sick days.

Termination Requirements

Terminations must respect complex rules and the rules of an employee’s employment country. The off-boarding is always handled by the Employer with the primary stakeholders. It may include ad-hoc fees as well as required or recommended steps on specific termination cases.

Terminations in New Zealand can be complex. There is no at-will termination in New Zealand for employers and termination must be done for just cause. 
Compliant terminations include:

  • Voluntarily by the employee
  • By mutual agreement
  • By the expiration of the contract
  • Unilaterally by the employer based on:
    • Probation period
    • Objective grounds
    • Disciplinary dismissal
    • Performance due to unsuitability for the job

Notice Period

The notice period is one month. It does not vary depending on the length of service. 

Severance for Employees

In New Zealand, there are no statutory requirements for severance payments. During the notice period, the employee will receive standard salary wages. 

Paid Time Off

Both full-time and part-time employees are entitled to 20 working days of paid time off (PTO) a year. PTO accrues monthly at 1.67 days per month. Employees are eligible for annual leave after 1 year of work.

Public Holidays

New Zealand celebrates 12 national and 12 regional holidays based on the location of the employee. 


National public holidays include: 

  1. New Year’s Day
  2. Day after New Year’s Day
  3. Waitangi Day
  4. Good Friday
  5. Easter Monday 
  6. Anzac Day
  7. Kings’s Birthday
  8. Matariki Day 
  9. Labor Day
  10. Christmas Day
  11. Boxing Day

Onboarding

Onboarding takes 2 business days after the client signs the SOW.

Employment Contract Details

Contracts must be in English. They must be in writing and signed by both parties. 

A contract must include: 

  • The names of the employer and the employee
  • A description of the work to be performed
  • An indication of the place of work
  • The agreed hours or an indication of the hours that the employee will work, this includes agreement on any or all of the following:
    • The number of hours
    • The start and finish times
    • The days of the week the employee will work
  • The wage rate or salary payable (must be equal or greater than the relevant minimum wage) and how it will be paid (if the employee won’t be paid in cash, this should be in the employment agreement or must be agreed upon in writing somewhere else)
  • An explanation of how to help resolve employment relationship problems, including advice that personal grievances must be raised within 90 days
  • A statement that the employee will get (at least) time-and-a-half payment for working on a public holiday
  • For relevant employees, and employment protection provision to apply if the employer’s business is sold or transferred, or if the employee’s work is contracted out.

Any other matters agreed on, such as trial periods, probationary arrangements, or availability provisions.

The nature of the employment if the employment is fixed-term.

It is possible to backdate in New Zealand for a short period of time.

Probation Period

The maximum probation period is 180 days. The standard is 90 days.
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Hiring in New Zealand, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in New Zealand with our EOR solution. If you have an entity, our Global Payroll solution takes care of payroll and compliance for your direct employees. Our 250+ in-house experts handle everything from managing local laws, complex tax systems, or your payroll in New Zealand and 150+ countries.

Group (8)

Starting at 599 USD

Management fee

Group (9)

3.21%

Estimate Employer Cost

*of employee salary

Want to learn the cost of hiring an employee in New Zealand?

View our Employee Cost Calculator

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