Starting Employment
How to start employment well and kick off your relationship with the employee
What are employee rights and my employer responsibilities?
As an employer, it's important to know the basic requirements for every employee. This includes:
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A written employment contract: Have a written contract for each employee that outlines the terms of their employment (see more information below)
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Minimum wage: Pay at least the minimum wage for all hours worked (see more information below)
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Payment method: Make payments in cash unless another method (like direct credit) is agreed between both you and the employee.
See more information here. Employees are also entitled to specific leave and break times (detailed below). It is important to keep records to show you are being compliant with the law. This can also help you avoid misunderstandings and protect you if problems come up. You can find more about this here.
What is acting in 'good faith'?
Building a strong relationship with your employees starts with acting in ‘good faith’. Good faith holds up the relationship you have with your employees. This is especially important when dealing with tough situations, like performance issues or misconduct.
Here are three key principles to keep in mind:
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Honesty: Don't mislead or deceive. Always be upfront and truthful
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Communication: Be responsive and keep communication open
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Transparency: Before making a decision which is relevant to an employee, provide them with all the information they need to understand the situation and give them a good chance to share their thoughts.
Under the law, all parties in an employment relationship must:
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deal with each other in good faith,
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have good reason for their actions, and
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follow a fair process.
More information on good reason and fair process can be found here and here.
If an employer is found to have breached 'good faith', they could face significant financial penalties. For more details on acting in good faith, see here.
What are employment agreements (contracts)?
Every employee must have a written employment agreement (sometimes referred to as a ‘contract’), which makes it clear what is expected from them.
There are two types of employment agreements:
Individual employment agreement (IEA)
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This is between you (the employer) and an individual staff member
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The details of the contract only apply to that specific employee
Collective employment agreement
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Covers similar points as an individual agreement
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The terms are agreed between you (the employer) and a union representing a group of employees.
When hiring, it's up to the potential employee to decide if they want to use a collective employment agreement (if there is a union available) or an individual employment agreement. You can find more details on what these agreements look like here. You can find a list of NZCTU (New Zealand Council of Trade Unions) union affiliates here or search the registered unions database here.
If you have a reasonable belief that employees could be under the influence of something or not sober at work, or that testing is needed to manage risks to health and safety, it is important to consider clauses around drug and alcohol testing. You can find more information on testing here.
Employment Agreement Templates
Templates to build employment agreements can be found at;
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Federated Farmers of New Zealand linked here - These are available to members and at a fee to non-members. Members are also able to receive advice from Federated Farmers’ employment experts, a service not available to non-members.
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Business.govt.nz linked here - A free employment agreement builder to create a tailored employment agreement. This is not specific to the food and fibre sector.
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New Zealand KiwiFruit Growers linked here- Provides sample employment agreements for fixed term, casual, and permanent employees specifically tailored to kiwifruit growers.
Job Descriptions
Job descriptions are also helpful tools so both you and the employee understand the expectations of the role.
You can find skills to include which are relevant to your roles at;
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Food and Fibre CoVE - The Food and Fibre Skills framework is a useful tool to identify the skills needed in your job descriptions and aims to create a common language of how skills are communicated and described in the sector
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BERL - For viticulture specific skills for the wine workforce
You can find PDF templates for job descriptions at;
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Careers NZ - For a generic job description template
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Dairy NZ - For dairy industry specific templates at the bottom of the page
There is also mandatory paperwork that must be completed for each new hire, such as IR330 tax declaration and Kiwisaver forms. See Attracting the Right Individuals for more information.
Trials and probationary periods
As an employer, you may want to use a trial or probationary period to know for sure if an employee can effectively complete the job. This must be written into the employment contract and agreed to by the employee. For more information on 90 day trial periods, see here.
What are different types of workers?
It is important to understand whether a worker is an employee or a contractor.
Employee: Someone hired to do work for wages or a salary under an employment agreement.
Contractor: Someone hired to perform services under a ‘contract for services’.
To determine whether your workers are contractors or employees you can find legal test guidance here (intention test, control vs independence test, integration test, and fundamental / economic reality test) which can help decide whether someone is an employee or contractor.
Knowing whether a person is a contractor or an employee is vital to ensure they are on the right contract. If you hire someone as a contractor when they should be an employee, you might end up paying extra costs like unpaid tax, unpaid minimum wages, unpaid kiwisaver and unpaid leave entitlements.
While there are a range of factors that can determine whether someone is an employee or a contractor, we have considered some of these in the scenarios below. If you are unsure if someone is an employee or a contractor, you should seek legal advice on this.
An illustrative example of what an employee versus a contractor looks like, see below.
Types of Employees
There are four types of employees:
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Permanent (full-time or part-time) employees: Ongoing employment at a workplace
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Fixed-term (full-time or part-time) employees: Ongoing employment which ends on a specified date or event
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Seasonal employees: Type of fixed term employee where work finishes at the end of a season
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Casual employees: Employees who work when it suits them and do not have regular working patterns.
For more detailed information on each employee type see here. However, you can use this quick table to gain a quick understanding of how they differ.
Some employees may be described as ‘casual’ but are actually part-time employees as they have a setwork pattern. The scenario below is an example of this;
Casual Employee Scenario:
Karl began his job at a seafood processing plant with a casual employment agreement. At first, he worked occasional shifts as they came up, sometimes on Mondays, sometimes on Wednesdays. However, the plant's needs grew, and since Karl was already trained for the role, he was asked to start working regular shifts from 8am to 4pm on Mondays to Tuesdays. Karl was pleased with the extra income and happily agreed to this change. He has now been completing this schedule for 3 months and there seems to be no change in his hours anytime soon.
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At this point Karl’s employment status has shifted from being a casual employee to a permanent part time employee as he has had regular shifts over a period of time.
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This means Karl now has additional employment rights such as leave entitlements.
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Karl needs to be switched from a casual employment agreement to a permanent employment agreement which outlines these new rights.
There are also other types of workers with different requirements that need to be met, such as:
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Apprentices and trainees: For workers learning on the job and growing the skills they need to succeed. See more information here.
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Volunteers and studentships: For unpaid roles who are not employees and therefore not covered by employment law. See more information here.
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Triangular employment situations: Where three parties are involved in an employment arrangement. See more information here.
Employment Linked to Visas (and Accredited Schemes)
There are several food and fibre specific visas available to migrant workers. Some of these require employers to be accredited through government immigration schemes. These may include additional obligations and working conditions from the employer beyond the minimum requirements. For more information, see here.
Tip!
You should always check if a potential worker has the right to live and work in Aotearoa New Zealand prior to hiring them.