New Zealand Salaries

It has been an up and down ten years for the labour market. Several hundred thousand jobs were created in the early part of the last decade but with the GFC many of tose jobs were lost. Unemployment which had been as low as 3.4% in 2008 peaked at over 7.3% in late 2010. It is now around 6.8% and slowly (but stubbornly) falling.

Executive salaries vary across the market however as a guide a middle / senior executive employed in an accounting / sales / engineering field could expect to earn between $100,000 and $200,000 per annum plus benefits. Benefits generally include subsidised superannuation, medical insurance and in many cases use of a company car or an allowance for an employee supplied vehicle. Nurses and teachers with 10 years experience could expect earnings of $45,000 to $65,000 per annum. People in the trades or technical fields can expect earnings of around $40,000-$50,000 before taxation.

The average salary in New Zealand is around NZ$55,000 and the minimum wage is $13.75 per hour. The marginal tax rate for someone on the average salary is 17.5%.

For further information on what you might expect, see our useful links on the top right of this page.

New Zealand salaries and wages are not high by international standards, however they are at a level where middle executives enjoy a pleasant life style. The average wage is around $50,000 with 17.5% of that being paid in personal income taxes.

The minimum wage is $13.75 per hour or $550.00 per week. We would comment that less than 3% of the population are employed at these levels and those that are work in unskilled areas.

The Employment Relations Act legislation that was enacted in 2000 superceded the Employment Contracts Act which was considered to be both radical and innovative in terms of labour law. The new E.R. Act governs the employment of all workers in New Zealand, however there are a number of other statutes which also impact on conditions of employment.

The Employment Relations Act introduced the concept of "good faith bargaining", unions as the only allowed bargaining agents for collective contracts and one or two other changes of limited scope.

By law employment contracts must contain a number of key clauses. These include:

• a procedure for personal grievances
• a disputes procedure
• a term, with an expiry date for collective agreements
• wages, hours of work, holidays, sick leave entitlements.

The Law sets the minimum for annual leave, sick leave, statutory holidays, minimum wages etc., it is up to the employee to negotiate better conditions than the minimum.

Sex, marital status, religion, age, disabilities cannot be discriminated against, and strict laws enforce this.

Employers and employees can agree to a 90 day 'no obligation' trial should they chose (currently only available to employers employing less than 20 people but it is expected that this will shortly change to all employers). Neither has any claim over the other should the employment relationship be terminated within that time.

For salary guides and more information, check out our Useful Links section on the top right of this page.