Minimum wage rises by $1.20 on 1 April 2019

Minimum wage rises

When: 1 April 2019

What: The new minimum wage rates, before tax, are:

• Adult — $17.70 an hour

• Starting-out — $14.16 an hour (up from $13.20)

• Training — $14.16 an hour (up from $13.20)

Read this page on minimum pay rules for a summary of who can earn the different rates.

Why: Government must by law review the minimum wage rates every year.

What you’ll need to do: You and your staff can agree to any wage above the minimum rates. If your payroll and employment agreements are a few years old, you can use this as a chance to update them using our easy to use tool, the Employment Agreement Builder. If any workers are on starting-out or training wages, now is a good time to check when they’ll be eligible to move onto the adult rate.

Note that it is a legal requirement to have a written employment agreement with all your staff.

Read our page on checking the cost of an employee to get an idea of how much the increase will cost your business.

You can also use the online calculator to estimate costs of hiring a new employee. TIP If you pay staff minimum wages, recalculate your budget for the rest of the year — you’ll be paying out more in wages. Do you have more questions about minimum pay rules? Visit employment.govt.nz or call Employment New Zealand toll free on 0800 20 90 20.