# Employee rights and responsibilities Official source: https://www.employment.govt.nz/starting-employment/rights-and-responsibilities/employee-rights-and-responsibilities Scanned: 2026-06-07T03:31:31.402Z Use this as a current official guidance reference, not as a substitute for legal advice. ## Page Text Home Starting employment Rights and responsibilities Employee rights and responsibilities Rights and responsibilities Starting employment Rights and responsibilities Employee rights and responsibilities Minimum rights of employees - language translations Employer rights and responsibilities Good faith Fair process Good reason Record-keeping Types of worker Hiring Employment agreements Employees Employee rights and responsibilities Learn about your rights and responsibilities in the workplace. What are rights and responsibilities What are employee rights Employee rights are what your employer must give you by law. They are called minimum employment rights and cover: employment agreements pay and wages breaks holidays and leave safe and fair workplaces flexible working union membership redundancy, work changes or restructuring employment records resigning. Employers cannot give you less rights than what is in the law, even if you’ve both agreed to it. This means you’re entitled to your minimum employment rights even if: they’re not mentioned in your employment agreement your employment agreement tries to trade minimum rights off against each other your employment agreement does not give you all the minimum employment rights you do not have a written employment agreement (by law, your employer is required to give you one). What are employee responsibilities Your responsibilities are what you are required to do in the workplace. You have responsibilities at work around: attendance following all lawful and reasonable requests keeping yourself and others safe exercising reasonable care, skills and knowledge behaving responsibly acting in good faith being trustworthy and protecting information. Who has minimum employment rights All employees are entitled to minimum employment rights. There are some employment rights that certain employees do not have when they are being dismissed — that is employees who: earn $200,000 or more a year (unless they have opted back in to dismissal protections), or are on a trial period. For more information, see: Dismissal rules for high income earners Trial periods Contractors and volunteers Contractors (self-employed people) and volunteers are not employees so do not have minimum employment rights. This is because they do not have rights under employment law. They have rights under different laws instead, for example, rights under the: Human Rights Act 1993 Privacy Act 2020 Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and Contracts and Commercial Law Act 2017. Details of your minimum employment rights Below are the details of what your employer must give you for your minimum employment rights. Employment agreements Your employer must: give you a written employment agreement A written document setting out the terms and conditions of employment agreed by the employer and employee (also known as a ‘contract of service’). It can include other contractual documents and agreements made by the employer and employee. Every employee must have a written employment agreement. , also known as a contract, and keep it up to date let you get advice or support from someone you trust before you sign the agreement. Negotiating and accepting as an employee Pay and wages Your employer must: pay you at least the minimum wage The lowest amount an employee can be paid per hour. There are 3 types of minimum wage: adult, starting-out and training. There is no minimum wage for employees younger than 16 years old. for each hour you work, including overtime, if you are 16 years or older pay you in cash, unless you’ve agreed to receive it a different way, like by direct credit (the bank account must be in your name) not take (deduct) money out of your pay unless: it’s lawful it's reasonable, and you asked for or agreed to it in writing, or it’s required by law (for example, tax and student loan payments) not make you pay to get or keep your job (a fee like this is called a ‘premium’) not tell you where or how to spend your pay. Pay and wages Breaks Your employer must give you regular rest breaks and meal breaks. Rest breaks must be paid. How many breaks you get and how long they are, depends on how many hours you've worked. For example, for an 8-hour day, you should get: 2 paid 10-minute rest breaks, and 1 unpaid 30-minute meal break. For example, for a 6-hour day, you should get: 1 paid 10-minute rest break, and 1 unpaid 30-minute meal break. If you want to breastfeed or express milk at work, employers must provide extra breaks and appropriate facilities. Rest and breaks Holidays and leave There are types of leave your employer must give you once you've worked for them for a certain amount of time. Type of leave Your employer must give you: You must have worked for your employer for: Annual holidays 4 weeks a year 12 months continuously (unless you qualify for, and agree to, pay-as-you-go holiday) Sick leave 10 days a year (that can be carried over to a maximum of 20 days) 6 months continuously or for the required number of hours Bereavement leave 3 days for immediate family members and 1 day for other bereavements 6 months continuously or for the required number of hours Family violence leave 10 days a year 6 months continuously or for the required number of hours For more information about each of these leave types and what you are entitled to, see: Taking annual holidays Taking sick leave Taking bereavement leave Taking family violence leave Public holidays There are 12 public holidays each year. Your employer must pay you for a public holiday if it falls on a day you would usually work. If you work on a public holiday, your employer must: pay you at least time-and-a-half, and give you a paid alternative holiday if it falls on a day you would usually work. Public holidays Parental leave and jury service Your employer must give you: up to 52 weeks' parental leave to care for a new child if you meet the work requirements unpaid leave for jury service. Taking parental leave Jury service leave Safe and fair workplace Your employer must: provide a safe and healthy workplace, with proper training, supervision and equipment — you have the right to stop working if you believe it is unhealthy or unsafe not demand to keep your passport provide a workplace that is free from bullying, harassment and unlawful discrimination not treat you adversely (badly or unfairly) at work, for example: dismissing you without following the rules for dismissal paying you less than others for doing the same, or similar work, because of your sex taking action against you because you made a protected disclosure (‘whistleblowing’) breaking the terms of your employment agreement or not giving you your legal employment rights. Legal rights that employers and employees have which protect how they are treated at work and promote fairness in the workplace. They include acting in good faith, being active and constructive in maintaining the employment relationship, and following employment laws and lawful terms in the employment agreement. In most cases, you have the right to raise a personal grievance if you believe you've been treated unfairly at work. Dismissal Personal grievances Bullying, harassment and discrimination Your rights and obligations – WorkSafe New Zealand (external link) Flexible working You have the right to ask for flexible working arrangements at any time. For example, changes to your hours, days or place of work. Your employer must consider your request and reply within the required timeframe. They can only say no for certain reasons. Flexible working Union membership Your employer must allow you to join a union if you want to, without any pressure from anyone to join or not join. Union membership Redundancy, work changes or restructuring Your employer must talk to you in good faith An underlying principle in employment law which requires employers and employees to deal with each other honestly, openly, and in a fair and timely way. if there will be any changes to the workplace that could negatively affect your hours or role, for example: changes to your current employment agreement, like fewer hours or days of work restructuring redundancy. The basics of workplace change Redundancy Employment records Your employer must keep records about your employment history with them. For example: when you worked how long you worked for (for example, the number of hours), and what your wages were. You can ask to see your employment records at any time. Record-keeping Resigning You can resign at any time by: telling your employer that you’ll be leaving, and working the notice period set out in your employment agreement. There’s no set legal notice period, so if your agreement does not say what it is, then it must be reasonable. Giving notice Negotiating better employment rights Employers can offer you better terms and conditions than the minimum employment rights. If your employment agreement has better terms and conditions, your employer must honour these. The following table shows: some minimum employment rights, and examples of where employers and employees have negotiated better terms and conditions in their employment agreements. Minimum rights Examples of negotiated terms 4 weeks paid annual holiday each year Extra annual holidays, for example, 5 weeks 12 public holidays each year Extra holidays, for example, company holidays, Dominion Day Payment of time-and-a-half for working on a public holiday Higher rates for working on public holidays, for example, double-time 10 days’ paid sick leave each year after the first 6 months of employment 10 days’ sick leave can be carried over to a maximum of 20 days More than 10 days’ paid sick leave No need to wait for 6 months More than 10 days can carry over each year 3 days’ paid bereavement leave for immediate family members and 1 day for other bereavements More than 3 days’ paid bereavement leave Access to bereavement leave for a wider range of situations Up to 52 weeks’ parental leave Extra time off or extra payments, for example, a one-off payment when you return to work Rest and meal breaks must be provided Rest breaks must be paid More frequent or longer rest breaks Meal break is also paid Relevant minimum wage must be paid Wages and salary above the minimum wage Overtime paid at minimum wage Overtime at more than minimum wage or a special rate, for example double-time Unpaid leave for jury service Normal pay while on jury service If you think your rights are not being met If you think your employee rights are not being met in your workplace, you can report this to us by either: using our Get Help form, or calling 0800 20 90 20. Your concerns will be handled in a safe environment. Get Help form (external link) Details of your responsibilities Below are the details of what you must do while in the workplace. Attendance You must: be at work be willing to work during the days and hours and at the times that you agreed to in your employment agreement, and only be away from work for a valid reason, for example, if you: are sick are bereaved, or already agreed with your employer to have time off. Follow all lawful and reasonable requests You must follow all reasonable requests from your employer as long as they: are lawful are within the scope of your job and your employment agreement do not expose you, or anyone else, to a serious risk to health and safety from an immediate or upcoming hazard (unless risk is a recognised part of the job, for example, if you are a firefighter). Keep yourself and others safe You must: take reasonable care of your own health and safety and ensure that your actions do not cause harm to yourself or others comply with any reasonable instructions, policies or procedures on how to work in a safe and healthy way. Your rights and obligations – WorkSafe (external link) Exercise reasonable care, skills and knowledge You must take care when doing your work. This means doing the job to the best of your abilities. If your employer followed a good hiring process and trained you in everything you need to know, you should have the skills and knowledge needed to do your job. You should use your skills in a way that protects your employer’s assets and property (‘assets’ are things your employer owns, like equipment or office furniture). Behave reasonably You must behave reasonably while at work, and in some cases when you’re not at work, especially if your actions could make your employer look bad. Check your organisation’s rules and policies — for example, a code of conduct — which will outline things like: dress standards, including any uniform requirements expected behaviour at work use of email and social media while at work. Workplace policies and procedures Misconduct Act in good faith You and your employer must deal with each other in good faith. This includes being open, honest and responsive towards each other. Good faith Be trustworthy and protect information You must: respect your employer’s confidentiality and not share private work information outside of work be loyal to your employer. This means acting in their best interests and not breaking the trust between you. For example: do not ask for or accept rewards, like travel points, from other people for work you do, unless your employer agrees do not try to take your employer’s customers for yourself while you’re still working there. Your rights and responsibilities when working more than 1 job You can have more than 1 job unless your employment agreement says you cannot. For example, some employment agreements have a clause that stops the employee from working for someone else. This is sometimes called a ‘secondary employment provision’.