publications by subject

Hiring

• How to hire guide [html] [PDF, 40 pages, 258KB]
• What you need to know about recruiting [html] [print friendly]
• Build a letter of appointment [html]
• Employer’s guide to employment relationships [html] [PDF, 36 pages, 484KB]
• Fixed-term agreements and probation periods [html] [print friendly]
• Forming an employment relationship [html] [print friendly]
• Guide to probation periods [print friendly]
• Offering employment [html] [print friendly]
• Terms & conditions of employment [html] [print friendly]
• What are trial periods? [html] [print friendly]

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Ending Employment Relationships

• Employer’s guide to employment relationships [html] [PDF, 36 pages, 464KB]
• Ending an employment relationship [html] [print friendly]
• What you need to know about ending employment relationships [html] [print friendly]
• Disciplinary action, dismissal, redundancy and ill health – a guide for employees
  [html] [PDF, 16 pages, 193KB]
• Disciplinary action, dismissal, redundancy and ill health – a guide for employers [html] [PDF, 16 pages, 198KB]
• Entitlements on resignation or termination  [html] [print friendly]
• Information for employees about redundancy [html] [print friendly]
• Information for employers about redundancy [html] [print friendly]
• Protection in special circumstances – specified groups of employees [html] [print friendly]
• Extra rights for specified groups of employees [html] [print friendly] [print friendly in Maori] [print friendly in Tongan] [print friendly in Samoan] [print friendly in Fijian] [print friendly in Tagalong] [print friendly in Hindi]

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Collective Bargaining

• Facilitation of collective bargaining [html] [print friendly]
  
• Undermining collectives by “passing on” [print friendly]

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Good Faith

• Code of good faith [html] [print friendly]
• Good faith in employment relationships [html] [print friendly]
• In good faith [PDF, 68 pages, 893 KB]

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Good Practice

• Code of employment practice on infant feeding [html] [print friendly]
• Making flexibility work – practical ideas for small businesses [html] [PDF, 23 pages, 199KB]
• Productivity Toolkit [html] [PDF, 24 pages, 620KB]
• Work-life balance: Making it work in your business [html] [PDF, 32 pages, 1.6MB]

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Holidays and Leave

• Holidays and leave – a guide for employer’s [html] [PDF, 48 pages, 332KB]
• Holidays and leave – a guide for employees [html] [PDF, 12 pages, 727KB]
• What you need to know about holidays & leave [html] [print friendly]

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Annual Holidays

• Annual holidays – General entitlements [html] [print friendly]
• Calculating “Ordinary Weekly Pay” and “Average Weekly Earnings” [html] [print friendly]
• Effects of unpaid leave [html] [print friendly]
• Employees who take annual holidays in advance of entitlement [html] [print friendly]
• Employees with irregular or changing work patterns [html] [print friendly]
• Records employers must keep [html]  [print friendly]
• Regular annual closedowns [html] [print friendly]
• When pay-as-you-go provisions can be used [html] [print friendly]
• Your rights at work – Holidays  [print friendly] 

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Sick & Bereavement Leave

• Bereavement leave – General entitlements [html]  [print friendly]
• Entitlements on resignation or termination [html] [print friendly]
• Sick leave – General entitlements[html] [print friendly]
• Sick leave – Interface with ACC  [html] [print friendly]
• What you need to know about holidays & leave [html] [print friendly]

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Public Holidays & Alternative Holidays

• Alternative holidays (days in lieu) for employees who work on public holidays  [html] [print friendly]
• Calculating payment for public holidays – “Relevant Daily pay”  [html] [print friendly]
• Entitlements on resignation or termination [html][print friendly]
• Entitlements for employees working shifts that cross midnight [html] [print friendly]
• General entitlements public holidays [html] [print friendly]
• Interface with other types of holiday and leave [html] [print friendly]
• NZ public holidays 2006 - 2009 [html] [print friendly]
• NZ public holidays 2010 – 2013 [html] [print friendly]
• NZ public holidays 2014 – 2016 [html] [print friendly]
• Payment public holidays [print friendly] [html]
• Public holidays – General entitlements [html] [print friendly]
• Records employers must keep [html] [print friendly]
• Shop opening hours [html] [print friendly]
• Time and a half for time worked  [html] [print friendly]
• Working on a public holiday [html] [print friendly]

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Parental Leave

• Parental leave for employees [html] [PDF, 24 pages, 350KB]
• Parental leave for the self-employed [html] [PDF, 20 pages, 325KB]
• Paid Parental Leave – information for advisors [html] [PDF, 20 pages, 212KB]
• Parental leave – forms for employer responses [html]
• Parental leave -sample employee letters [html]
• Paid parental leave – Inland Revenue forms [html]

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Legal Resources and Statistics

• Compensation & cost award table [html]
• Employment Cases Summary [html]
• Regulatory Impact Statements [html]
• Themes in employment law [html]

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Managing staff

• What you need to know about performance management [html] [print friendly]
• What you need to know about health & safety [html] [print friendly]
• Breastfeeding in the workplace [html] [PDF, 8 pages, 322KB]
• Code of employment practice on infant feeding [html] [print friendly]
• Disciplinary action, dismissal, redundancy and ill health – a guide for employers [html] [PDF]
• Employer’s guide to employment relationships [html] [PDF, 36 pages, 464KB]
• Employment Rights – A guide for employers [html] [PDF, 24 pages, 460KB]
• Ending an employment relationship [html][print friendly]
• Information for employees about redundancy [html] [print friendly]
• Information for employers about redundancy [html] [print friendly]
• Making flexibility work – Practical ideas for small businesses [html] [PDF, 23 pages, 199KB]
• Parental leave – Which employees are eligible? [html] [print friendly]
• Shop opening hours [html] [print friendly]
• Transgender people at work – A guide for employers [html] [PDF, 9 pages, 307KB]
• What are trial periods? [html] [print friendly]
• What you need to know about ending employment relationships [html] [print friendly]
• Work-life balance: Making it work in your business [html] [PDF, 32 pages, 1.6KB]

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Minimum Rights

• Minimum employment rights- English [html] [print friendly] [PDF, 12 pages, 600KB]
• Casual employment [html] [PDF, 5 pages, 106KB]
• Minimum employment rights – Cook Islands Mäori [print friendly]
• Minimum employment rights – Maori [print friendly]
• Minimum employment rights – Samoan [print friendly]
• Minimum employment rights – Simplified Chinese [print friendly]
• Minimum employment rights – Tagalog  [print friendly]
• Minimum employment rights – Thai  [print friendly]
• Minimum employment rights – Tongan [print friendly]
• Minimum employment rights – Traditional Chinese [print friendly]
• Rest and meal breaks - Employees [print friendly]
• Rest and meal breaks – Employers [print friendly]
• Sick leave – General entitlements[html] [print friendly]
• Transgender people at work – A guide for employees [html] [PDF, 9 pages, 261KB]
• Who is an employee and who is not?  [html] [print friendly]

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Pay

• What you need to know about: Pay [html] [print friendly]
• Entitlements for employees working shifts or on call  [html][print friendly]
• Calculating payment for public holidays – “Relevant Daily pay”  [html] [print friendly]
• Employees – New entrants and the minimum wage [print friendly]
• Employers – New entrants and the minimum wage [print friendly]
• Kiwisaver and compulsory employer contribution [print friendly]
• Minimum pay [print friendly] [html]
• Minimum wage exemptions – Information for employees and their support people [html] [print friendly]
• Minimum wage exemptions – Information for employers [print friendly]
• Minimum pay and deductions [PDF, 2 pages, 394KB]
• Payment of wages and deductions [print friendly]
• Payment public holidays [print friendly] [html]
• Previous minimum wages [print friendly]
• Time and a half for time worked  [html] [print friendly]
• Wage & time records [print friendly]
  
• Your rights at work: Minimum Wage [print friendly]

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Parents

• Breastfeeding in the workplace [html] [PDF, 8 pages, 303KB]
• Code of employment practice on infant feeding [html] [print friendly]
• Making flexibility work – practical ideas for small businesses [html] [PDF, 23 pages, 199KB]
• Parental leave for employees [html] [PDF, 24 pages, 167KB]
• Parental leave for the self-employed [html] [PDF, 20 pages, 325KB]
• Parental leave – forms for employer responses [html]
• Parental leave - sample employee letters [html]
• Paid parental leave – IRD forms [html]
• Striking a balance – A guide for working parents [html] [print friendly]
• Work-life balance: Making it work in your business [html] [PDF]

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Problem-solving in the workplace

• What you need to know about performance management [html] [print friendly]
• What you need to know about ending employment relationships [html] [print friendly]
• Breaches of employment law [html] [print friendly]
• Can you fix the problem yourself? [html] [print friendly]
• Code of ethics for mediators [html] [PDF]
• Contemporary mediation practice [html] [PDF]
• Disciplinary action, dismissal, redundancy and ill health – a guide for employees [html] [PDF]
• Disciplinary action, dismissal, redundancy and ill health – a guide for employers [html] [PDF]
• Ending an employment relationship [html] [print friendly]
• Facilitation of collective bargaining [html] [print friendly]
• Going to the Employment Relations Authority [html]
• Going to the employment court [html] [print friendly]
• Going to mediation [html] [print friendly]
• Making flexibility work – practical ideas for small businesses [html] [PDF, 23 pages, 199KB]
• Other actions you can take under the Employment Relations Act [html] [print friendly]
• Personal grievances [html] [print friendly]
• Resolving breaches of employment agreements [html] [print friendly]
• Resolving a collective bargaining dispute flow chart [html] [print friendly]
• Strikes and lockouts [html] [print friendly]
• Taking things further [html] [print friendly]
• Using Mediation Services effectively [html] [PDF, 28 pages, 281KB]
• Work-life balance: Making it work in your business [html] [PDF, 32 pages, 1.6KB]

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Research

• Casual Employment Report [html]
• Employment Relations Dispute Resolution Research [html]
• Employment Relationship Problems: Costs, Benefits and Choices [html]
• Trial Employment Periods – an evaluation of the first year of operation [html]
• The 2008 Rest & Meal Breaks Amendments to the Employment Relations Act 2000 - A snapshot of the impact in the first year – August 2010 [html]

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Unions

• Joining a union [html] [print friendly]
• Union Rights [html] [print friendly]

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Young Workers

• Being a young employee [print friendly]
• Casual employment [html] [print friendly]
• Employing children and young people [print friendly]
• Info about young workers [html]
• Your rights at work – Holidays  [print friendly] 
• Your rights at work – Minimum Wage [print friendly]

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Other Information

• Ordering booklets
• Tips for downloading booklets
• Tips for printing PDFs

Ordering booklets

All our booklets and pamphlets are free. There are 3 ways to place an order for printed copies:

• Use the online order form;
• Use the PDF order form (PDF 39KB).

You can print out the blank form, complete your order and fax it to 09 969 2990 or post it to:

Department of Labour
Workplace Contact Centre
P O Box 105 183
Auckland 1010; or

• call us free on 0800 20 90 20.

Any personal information supplied for the purposes of ordering our printed publications will not be used by us for any other purposes. See our privacy statement.

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Tips for downloading booklets

All our online booklets are currently available only in Adobe® Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). You will need an Adobe® Acrobat Reader™ to download them.

Download Acrobat Reader ™ now for free

[external site]

The free Adobe® Reader™ allows you to view, navigate, and print PDF files across all major computing platforms. If you don't have an Adobe® Reader™, you can download it for free [external site]. Installation may take a few minutes.

Once downloaded into your system, just click on the link for the file you want and the Adobe Acrobat Reader will automatically open it for you. Actual downloading speed is determined by a number of factors such as file size, your modem speed, the volume of Internet traffic at the time as well as the capacity of your computer system.

You can set your own viewing preferences using the toolbar in Adobe® Reader™ to view pages to suit and you can print the whole booklet or any of the pages you require.

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Tips for printing PDFs

It is NOT always necessary to print out the whole booklet. Here's how you can print out the pages of your choice.

Using File/Print, just select the Print Range you require.

The correct page numbers in the file you're printing will be indicated beside the right-hand scroll bar as you scroll through the document. These are the CORRECT page references for printing purposes and may differ from the actual page numbers in the booklet, usually by two more. This is because where there is a separate cover, this gets counted as two extra pages in Acrobat.

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This page was last updated on: 27-Aug-2010 -> and is current.