▷ The Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 (2026 No 4) came into force on 21 February 2026. This is the most significant reform to New Zealand’s employment law in recent years. Key changes relevant to EPLex include:
• Employees earning NZD 200,000 or more in total remuneration per year generally lost the right to raise a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal.
• The test of justification (for dismissals) was modified, with greater emphasis on substantive fairness over procedural defects.
• Where an employee’s conduct contributed to the personal grievance and amounts to serious misconduct, the Authority or the Court must not award any remedies (new section 123B). In other cases of contributory conduct, remedies (including reinstatement and compensation) may be reduced or denied (new sections 123C and 124).
• Employers and employees may agree in writing to retain unjustified dismissal protections for high-income earners.

▶ Employment Relations Act (ERA)
→ Under section 6(1) ERA: "Employee -
(a) means any person of any age employed by an employer to do any work for hire or reward under a contract of service; and
(b) includes -
(i) a homeworker; or
(ii) a person intending to work, but
(c) excludes a volunteer who
(i) does not expect to be rewarded for work to be performed as a volunteer; and
(ii) receives no reward for work performed as a volunteer; and
(d) excludes, in relation to a film production, any of the following persons:
(i) a person engaged in film production work as an actor, voice-over actor, stand-in, body double, stunt performer, extra, singer, musician, dancer, or entertainer:
(ii) a person engaged in film production work in any other capacity.
(1A) However, subsection (1)(d) does not apply if the person is a party to, or covered by, a written employment agreement that provides that the person is an employee".
▷ Note I: The ERA applies in relation to the Public Service (§ 67 of the State Sector Act 1988, No. 20 of 1988 as amended up to Act No. 23 of 2017).
▷ Note II: Following the Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Act 2020 (effective 27 June 2020), employees in triangular employment relationships may raise personal grievances, including claims of unjustified dismissal, against both the agency and the host organisation in certain circumstances (see Part 6B of the ERA).
▷ New - Note III: Following the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 (effective 21 February 2026), employees whose total remuneration is NZD 200,000 or more per year generally cannot raise a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal or unjustified disadvantage related to dismissal. However, the employer and employee may agree in writing that the protections against unjustified dismissal will continue to apply even if the employee exceeds the income threshold.

▷ Fixed-term employment contracts are regulated under section 66 of ERA.

▶ Employment Relations Act (ERA)
→ Section 66 ERA on fixed-term employment indicates that:
(1) An employee and an employer may agree that the employment of the employee will end:
(a) at the close of a specified date or period; or
(b) on the occurrence of a specified event; or
(c) at the conclusion of a specified project.
(2) Before an employee and employer agree that the employment of the employee will end in a way specified in subsection (1), the employer must—
(a) have genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds for specifying that the employment of the employee is to end in that way; and
(b) advise the employee of when or how his or her employment will end, and the reasons for his or her employment ending in that way.
(3) ERA provides that the following reasons are not genuine reasons:
(a) to exclude or limit the rights of the employee under the ERA
(b) to establish the suitability of the employee for permanent employment:
(c) to exclude or limit the rights of an employee under the Holidays Act 2003. (...).

▷ There is no statutory limit on the number of successive fixed-term contracts, provided the employer continues to have genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds for each fixed-term agreement. (§ 66(2)(a) ERA).

▷ No statutory limitations. However, the employer must have genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds for resorting to a fixed-term (§ 66(2)(a) ERA).

▷ Note on terminology: The Law distinguishes between probationary and trial period. The term used in the Act is “Trial Period”. A “probationary period" also exists, but it is different from trial periods and doesn’t provide any duration requirements (§ 67).
▶ Employment Relations Act (ERA)
▷ Probationary arrangements
→ Section 67 ERA indicates that:
(1)Where the parties to an employment agreement agree as part of the agreement that an employee will serve a period of probation after the commencement of the employment,—
(a) the fact of the probation period must be specified in writing in the employment agreement; and
(b) neither the fact that the probation period is specified, nor what is specified in respect of it, affects the application of the law relating to unjustifiable dismissal to a situation where the employee is dismissed in reliance on that agreement during or at the end of the probation period.
(2) Failure to comply with subsection (1)(a) does not affect the validity of the employment agreement between the parties.
(3) However, if the employer does not comply with subsection (1)(a), the employer may not rely on any term agreed under subsection (1) that the employee serve a period of probation if the employee elects, at any time, to treat that term as ineffective.
▷ Trial period (as amended by the Employment Relations (Trial Periods) Amendment Act 2023, effective 23 December 2023)
→ Section 67A ERA allows any employer to include a trial provision in an employment agreement with an employee who has not previously been employed by that employer. The key features are:
(1) An employment agreement containing a trial provision may be entered into by an employer and an employee who has not previously been employed by that employer.
(2) For the purposes of this section and section 67B, trial provision means a written provision in an employment agreement that states, or is to the effect, that—
(a) for a specified period (not exceeding 90 days), starting at the beginning of the employee’s employment, the employee is to serve a trial period; and
(b) during that period, the employer may dismiss the employee; and
(c) if the employer does so, the employee is not entitled to bring a personal grievance or other legal proceedings in respect of the dismissal.
▷ New: In 2026, sections 67B(2) and (3) were amended.
→ Section 67B ERA indicates that:
(1) This section applies if an employer terminates an employment agreement containing a trial provision under section 67A by giving the employee notice of the termination before the end of the trial period, whether the termination takes effect before, at, or after the end of the trial period.
▻ Subsection (2) of this section was modified to state that:
(2) An employee whose employment agreement is terminated in accordance with subsection (1) may not bring a personal grievance or legal proceedings in respect of the dismissal, including—
(a) a personal grievance on the ground specified in section 103(1)(a):
(b) a personal grievance on the ground specified in section 103(1)(b) if the ground relates to the dismissal.
▻ Subsection (3) was replaced with:
(3) Neither this section nor a trial provision prevents an employee from bringing a personal grievance or legal proceedings—
(a) on the ground specified in section 103(1)(b) if the ground does not relate to the dismissal:
(b) on any of the grounds specified in section 103(1)(c) to (k).
▷ Historical note: Between 2019 and 2022, under sections 67B(1) as well as section 67B(5)(a) and (b), the use of 90-day trial periods was restricted to small-to-medium-sized employers only. This limitation was removed by the Employment Relations (Trial Periods) Amendment Act 2023 (effective 23 December 2023), which amended those sections to make trial periods available to all employers.

▷ The ERA does not require that notice of dismissal be given in writing. The form of notification can be agreed in the employment contract or collective agreement. However, the ERA provides for notification of termination of employment during the trial period and for an employee's right to request a written statement of the reasons for dismissal.
▶ Employment Relations Act (ERA)
→ Section 67B ERA indicates that: Effect of trial provision under section 67A
(1) This section applies if an employer terminates an employment agreement containing a trial provision under section 67A by giving the employee notice of the termination before the end of the trial period, whether the termination takes effect before, at, or after the end of the trial period.
(2) An employee whose employment agreement is terminated in accordance with subsection (1) may not bring a personal grievance or legal proceedings in respect of the dismissal. (...).
→ Section 120 ERA provides that:
(1) Where an employee is dismissed, that employee may, within 60 days after the dismissal or within 60 days after the employee has become aware of the dismissal, whichever is the later, request the employer to provide a statement in writing of the reasons for the dismissal.
(2) Every employer to whom a request is made under subsection (1) must, within 14 days after the day on which the request is received, provide the statement to the person who made the request.

▷ There is no statutory minimum notice period under the ERA. Notice requirements are determined by the employment contract or collective agreement.
▻ Where a notice period is specified in the contract, failure to provide it may be treated as a factor indicating unjustified dismissal and may also give rise to a claim for breach of contract or arrears of wages.
▻ Where no notice period is specified in the contract, the courts or the Employment Relations Authority will determine what constitutes reasonable notice in the circumstances.

▷ There is no statutory definition of “collective dismissal” in New Zealand law.
→ However, the concept of redundancy is well established in case law. Redundancy generally refers to a situation where a worker’s employment is terminated by the employer, wholly or mainly because the position filled by that worker is, or will become, superfluous to the needs of the employer.
(see "Restructuring and redundancy", Report of the Public Advisory Group on restructuring and redundancy, June 2008, p. 9, available in PDF format under "Scope of additional information" below).

▶ Employment Relations Act (ERA)
→ Section 4(1A)(c) ERA requires an employer who is proposing to make a decision that will, or is likely to, have an adverse effect on the continuation of employment of one or more employees to provide the affected employees with:
(i) access to information relevant to the continuation of their employment about the decision; and
(ii) an opportunity to comment on that information before the decision is made.
→ Section 4(4) ERA expressly provides that the duty of good faith applies to:
(c) consultation between an employer and its employees (including any union representing the employees) about the effect on employees of changes to the employer’s business;
(d) a proposal by an employer that might impact on the employer’s employees, including a proposal to contract out work or to sell or transfer all or part of the employer’s business; and
(e) making employees redundant.

No statutory provisions were found in the examined legislation in this respect.

▶ Employment Relations Act (ERA)
→ See comments under "Prior consultations with trade unions (workers' representatives)" above.
→ The duty of good faith under Section 4 ERA requires an employer to provide affected employees and any relevant union with access to relevant information and an opportunity to comment before making a decision that may adversely affect the continuation of their employment, including decisions leading to redundancy.

No statutory provisions were found in the examined legislation in this respect.

No statutory provisions were found in the examined legislation in this respect.

No statutory provisions were found in the examined legislation in this respect.

▶ Employment Relations Act (ERA)
→ Under Part 6A of the ERA, employees in the categories listed in Schedule 1A who are affected by restructuring have a statutory right to elect to transfer to the new employer on their existing terms and conditions (§ 69I ERA).
→ This effectively provides a form of priority re-employment right for these employees when their work is transferred to another employer.
▷ Note: This right is limited to employees in the specified categories under Schedule 1A and does not apply to the general workforce.

▶ Employment Relations Act (ERA)
⫸ Part 6A of the ERA provides specific protections for certain categories of employees listed in Schedule 1A of the ERA when their work is affected by restructuring (including contracting out, contracting in, subsequent contracting, or the sale/transfer of a business).
→ Under Section 69I ERA, affected employees in these categories have the right to elect to transfer to the new employer on the same terms and conditions of employment. This can operate as an alternative to dismissal in restructuring situations.
▷ Note: These protections apply only to employees in the categories specified in Schedule 1A and do not apply to the general workforce.

▷ There is no statutory severance pay or redundancy payment scheme in New Zealand. An employee is only entitled to severance pay or redundancy compensation if it is provided for in their employment agreement or collective agreement. Where no such entitlement exists, the employee has no statutory right to redundancy payment upon termination of employment for economic reasons.