There is no legal limit on notice for dismissal in New Zealand. A notice period is agreed upon in the employment contract. If the employment agreement does not have a notice period, fair and reasonable notice must be given depending on the years of service, role, type of job, and common practice in the industry. The notice period is usually 2 - 4 weeks.
The notice must be given in writing and is usually the same for employees and employers. The employer can choose to agree with the employee to waive all or some of their notice period if the employee requests or consents to it.
Giving Notice: If an employee gives the required notice, the employer must pay them until the end of the notice period. The employer may ask the employee not to work the full notice period if:
Even if the employee doesn’t work the full notice period, they must still be paid for it. However, if the employee and employer agree to waive part of the period, they are only paid for the days worked.
Foreign nationals who wish to work in New Zealand require a work visa.
There are different categories of work visas available:
The following documents are required to apply for a work visa:
There are different categories of work visas that allow employees to stay temporarily for periods ranging from 2 to 5 years, or to apply for permanent residence after working for 2 years or 30 months.
In New Zealand, employees are entitled to a minimum paid annual leave of four weeks. Employees become eligible for this leave once they have completed 12 continuous months of service for the employer. Once the employee completes 1 year of service, employers can choose to grant them all of their annual leave at once, or they can allow the employee to accrue leave as they work so that it adds up to 4 weeks at the end of each year.
Annual leave must be taken within 12 months after the date on which the employee becomes entitled to leave. An employee may request that their employer pay out a portion of the employee's entitlement to annual leave. This request must be made in writing and can be made for a maximum of 1 week a year.
Annual leave is paid at either the employee's ordinary weekly pay at the beginning of the annual leave or the employee's average weekly earnings for the 12 months just before the end of the last pay period preceding the annual leave, depending on whichever is higher.
Employees may request 1 week of their 4-week minimum annual holiday entitlement each year to be paid in cash. Alternatively, some employees may receive their annual holiday pay on a pay-as-you-go basis if the employee:
Working hours are determined by employment contracts, but they must not exceed 40 hours per week (excluding overtime). If the maximum number of hours is less than 40, then the work must not exceed five days a week. Employees under 16 years of age cannot be employed between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM on any day.
If an employee or employer wants to change work hours, both should agree to this in writing in the employment agreement. Under special circumstances, working hours can be increased by giving reasonable notice to employees. Working hours may be reduced as an alternative to redundancy in some situations, such as genuine financial, commercial, or economic problems or genuine business restructuring.
New Zealand does not have maternity leave. It provides different types of leaves that can be shared among partners under parental leave. Employees who have worked for an employer for at least 6 months are eligible for parental leave. The following types of leave are available at the time of a child's birth:
Employees must inform their employers in writing of their intention to take parental leave at the time of a child's birth at least 3 months in advance.
Minimum wage rates apply to employees aged 16 and over. They are set on an hourly basis by the government and are reviewed each year. There are 3 types of minimum wages: adult, starting out, and training.
Effective April 1, 2026, the minimum wage rates are:
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