Employment Law Updates: What Employers Need To Know
Employment law in New Zealand continues to evolve. Recent and proposed reforms will shape your employment relationships, dispute management, and compliance obligations. Staying ahead of these changes is essential for protecting your business and demonstrating fair, consistent treatment of your workforce.
Pay Transparency: Employees Discussing Salary
Employees now have the right to openly discuss wages without fear of disciplinary action. This reflects a broader shift toward transparency and pay equity in the workplace.
Review your employment agreements and policies to remove any clauses that prohibit pay discussions. Prepare your management team for conversations about pay equity. Audit your pay practices to ensure they're fair and defensible across your organisation.
Criminal Liability for Unpaid Wages
Under the Worker Protection (Migrant and Other Employees) Act 2023, failing to pay wages is no longer just a civil matter. Employees can now pursue criminal charges for unpaid wages, in addition to personal grievances. This significantly strengthens wage enforcement and exposes employers who deliberately withhold pay to serious penalties
Prioritise timely and accurate wage payments. Maintain meticulous payroll records. Review your payment systems to confirm compliance with minimum wage requirements, holiday pay, and all other statutory entitlements.
Serious Misconduct: Limits on Personal Grievance Claims
New government proposals (the Employment Relations Act Amendment Bill, June 2025) aim to remove remedies entirely for employees dismissed for serious misconduct. This strengthens an existing legal principle that already limits personal grievance claims in these situations, even if the employer's procedural process wasn't perfect.
Document everything carefully. Ensure any dismissal for serious misconduct is genuinely serious and supported by clear evidence. While this change provides greater protection when acting decisively, a fair process still matters. Your decisions must be defensible.
Proposal to Limit Personal Grievance Remedies For High-Income Earners
The government's Employment Relations Act Amendment Bill aims to reduce employer liability by introducing a $180,000 income threshold, which would prevent employees earning above this from raising a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal.
Monitor these proposals closely, as they signal a major shift in employer liability. If enacted, you will need to review employment agreements for high-income earners (those over $180,000) to ensure they align with the new law.
Stay Compliant and Ahead of Change
At Sharp Advocacy, we closely monitor these changes to the law and help our clients plan ahead. We'll review your policies, update your practices, and ensure you understand what these changes mean for your business. Don't get caught off guard. Let's ensure your employment practices are compliant, fair, and future-proof.