Hire employees in
New Zealand, hassle-free
Hire 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
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Official Language
English
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Payroll Cycle
Monthly
Hire employees in New Zealand. No entity needed.
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.
New Zealand also treats contractors differently than full-time employees, so misclassifying a contractor could lead to fines. Deel lets you hire employees in New Zealand quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more.
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)
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
Minimum Wage Requirements
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 | Tax Rate (%) |
---|---|
Up to NZD - 14,000 | 10.5% |
Up to NZD - 48,000 | 17.5% |
Up to NZD - 70,00 | 30% |
Up to NZD - 180,000 | 33% |
Over NZD - 180,000 | 39% |
Employer Cost
- Employer KiwiSaver / ESCT - 3%
- Employer ACC Levy - 0.21% up to a maximum salary for the contribution of NZD 11,615.33
Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours
Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard workweek is from Monday to Friday.
Maternity Leave
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
Sick Leave
- 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
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
Severance for Employees
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:
- New Year’s Day
- Day after New Year’s Day
- Waitangi Day
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
- Anzac Day
- Kings’s Birthday
- Matariki Day
- Labor Day
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
Onboarding
Employment Contract Details
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
Probation periods help an employer and the employee ensure they're a hiring match, allowing a company to quickly decide if it's a fit and the employee to see if the job aligns with their career goals.
Hiring 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.
599 USD
Management fee
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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