The New Zealand minimum wage and wage rules: what employers must pay

What the minimum wage is

Minimum rates of pay are prescribed by Order in Council under the Minimum Wage Act 1983. Section 6 makes the entitlement absolute: notwithstanding anything in any agreement, "every worker who belongs to a class of workers in respect of whom a minimum rate of wages has been prescribed under this Act, shall be entitled to receive from his employer payment for his work at not less than that minimum rate." Employment New Zealand states the payroll consequence plainly: the minimum wage "must be paid for each hour worked", unless a higher rate is agreed.

Three mechanics matter for payroll:

• It's per hour worked, before tax. The published rates are "before tax and before any lawful deductions" such as PAYE, student loan repayments or child support. Pay structure doesn't change the floor: employees on commission or piece rates "must still get at least the relevant minimum wage" for each hour worked, and salaried staff must average at least the minimum across the hours actually worked in the pay period.
• KiwiSaver sits on top. Employment New Zealand: "Employers must pay any employer superannuation contribution, such as KiwiSaver, on top of at least the minimum wage."
• There are three rates, not one. Adult, starting-out and training — the adult rate is the default for everyone aged 16 or over unless a starting-out or training criterion is squarely met (see below).

The current rates, from 1 April 2026

As verified against Employment New Zealand (employment.govt.nz) on 10 July 2026, the rates in force from 1 April 2026 are:

• Adult: $23.95 an hour — $191.60 for an 8-hour day, $958.00 for a 40-hour week, $1,916.00 for an 80-hour fortnight. Up from $23.50 (the rate from 1 April 2025).
• Starting-out: $19.16 an hour — $153.28 / $766.40 / $1,532.80 on the same day/week/fortnight basis. Up from $18.80.
• Training: $19.16 an hour — same amounts as starting-out. Up from $18.80.

There is no minimum wage for employees under 16 — but all other employment rights and protections apply from the first hour.

Who gets which rate

The adult rate applies to every employee aged 16 or over unless one of the lower-rate criteria is met. Per Employment New Zealand:

• Starting-out can apply where the employee is: 16 or 17 and has not yet worked for their current employer for 6 continuous months; 16 to 19 with an employment agreement requiring industry training of at least 40 credits a year; or 18 or 19 and continuously paid a specified social security benefit for 6 months or more, without having since completed 6 continuous months of work. Under the Minimum Wage Act, starting-out workers must not be "involved in supervising or training other workers", and a starting-out rate can never be set below 80% of the adult rate.
• Training applies where the employee is 20 or over and their employment agreement requires at least 60 credits a year of an industry training programme.

The exemption permit — the only lawful sub-minimum

Section 8 of the Minimum Wage Act lets a Labour Inspector issue a minimum wage exemption permit for an individual worker, but only if the Inspector is satisfied that the worker is "significantly and demonstrably limited by a disability in carrying out the requirements of his or her work", that reasonable accommodations that could help have been considered by employer and worker, and that the permit is reasonable and appropriate. Employment New Zealand adds that the employee must agree with the offered rate, and the employer must show the wage is fair and reasonable relative to the worker's ability to do the work.

While the permit is in force, the rate stated in it becomes that worker's statutory minimum. Permits apply only to the specific job named, run for the period stated, cannot be backdated, and can be revoked by a Labour Inspector at any time. There is no general youth, trial-period or "internship" sub-minimum — if none of the starting-out or training criteria fits and there's no permit, the adult rate applies.

How wages must be paid: the Wages Protection Act 1983

The Wages Protection Act 1983 (consolidated version as at 27 November 2025 on legislation.govt.nz) controls the mechanics of payment. The defaults are strict, and everything else runs on the worker's written consent:

• Pay in money. Section 7: "an employer shall pay the wages of every worker in money only" — and "money" means New Zealand banknotes and coin. Section 9 then allows payment "by postal order, money order, specified cheque, or lodgement at a financial institution to the credit of an account standing in the name of that worker" — the everyday direct credit — but only with the worker's written consent or on their written request. A worker can withdraw that consent by written notice, and the employer must switch back to money within 2 weeks where practicable.
• Pay in full. Section 4: when wages become payable, the employer must "pay the entire amount of those wages to that worker without deduction", except as the Act allows.
• Deductions need law or written consent. Deductions required by law — PAYE, student loan repayments, child support — come out first. Beyond that, section 5 permits deductions only "for a lawful purpose" and with the worker's written consent or on their written request. Consent can live in a general deductions clause in the employment agreement, but section 5(1A) forbids making a specific deduction under such a clause "without first consulting the worker" — Employment New Zealand expects that consultation to cover what the deduction is for, when it will be made and how much it will be. Workers can vary or withdraw consent by written notice (2-week rule again), and section 5A bans any deduction that is unreasonable — Employment New Zealand flags deductions for losses "the employee had no control over", such as theft or damage caused by customers, as likely unreasonable.
• Board and lodging are capped. Where the employer provides board or lodging and no cash value is fixed by an Act, determination or agreement, section 7 of the Minimum Wage Act caps the deduction at what would reduce minimum-rate wages by 15% for board or 5% for lodging.
• No premiums, ever. Section 12A: no employer (or anyone acting for one) may "seek or receive any premium in respect of the employment of any person" — whether from the worker or anyone else, and whether taken as a wage deduction or paid separately. Employment New Zealand's plain-language version: "It is illegal for employers to ask employees for money... for giving them a job [or] keeping them in a job." Premiums are recoverable from the employer as a debt, on top of any penalty.
• No strings on spending. Section 12: an employer may not dictate where, how or with whom a worker spends their wages, nor dismiss them over it.
• Overpayments are narrowly recoverable. Section 6 lets an employer recover an overpayment only in limited "recoverable period" situations (unauthorised absence, strike, lockout, suspension), only where the payroll method made the overpayment unavoidable, and only with prior notice within tight statutory windows — recovery no later than 2 months after notice. It is not a general licence to claw back payroll errors from the next pay.

Breaches carry penalties imposed by the Employment Relations Authority, and unlawful deductions or non-money payments are recoverable by the worker or a Labour Inspector for up to 6 years (section 11).

Payday and pay frequency: set it in the agreement

New Zealand law does not prescribe a pay frequency. Employment New Zealand: "The law does not say how often or what day an employee should be paid" — that belongs in the employment agreement or a workplace policy, and "employers must consider their obligations and be reasonable when deciding how often they will pay their employees." Weekly, fortnightly and monthly are the common patterns. If payday will move — a public holiday, a systems change — tell affected employees when they will be paid before it happens.

The records behind the rate

Proving you paid at least the minimum for every hour worked depends on the wages and time records every employer must keep — hours worked, pay for those hours, and the written employment agreement behind them. Those duties (and payslip practice) have their own guide: see Employment agreements & wage records. In a Labour Inspectorate visit, the record is the defence — a correct rate you can't evidence is treated as a problem.

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