The Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 made two changes affecting workplaces where a collective employment agreement is in place.
The 30-day rule has been removed
Under the previous position, where a collective agreement covered work performed by a new employee, that employee’s terms and conditions had to reflect the collective agreement for their first 30 days, even if they were not a union member.
That rule has been removed. New employees in workplaces with a collective agreement can now be employed on individual terms from the outset.
Practical effect: employers with a collective can offer individual agreements to new hires immediately, without the transitional period of collective-equivalent terms.
The new information obligation
In its place, employers are required to inform non-union employees about their eligibility for collective agreements and union membership within the first 30 days of employment.
This is an active obligation. It is not satisfied by saying nothing, and it applies whether or not the employee asks.
Practical implementation:
- Build it into your onboarding process rather than relying on someone remembering.
- Provide it in writing, so you can evidence compliance.
- Include what collective agreement applies to work of that kind and how the employee can find out more about union membership.
- Record when it was provided.
Where you already have an onboarding checklist, this is one more item. Where you do not, this is a reason to build one.
Good faith obligations continue
The removal of the 30-day rule does not change the wider good faith framework. Employers must deal with unions in good faith, must not undermine collective bargaining or a collective agreement, and must not offer inducements to employees to give up union membership or collective coverage.
The line between explaining an individual agreement and undermining collective coverage is one to be careful about. Presenting an individual agreement neutrally, alongside the required information about collective eligibility, is the safe approach.
What has not changed
- Every employee needs a written employment agreement containing the required content, and the employer must retain a signed copy or the current terms offered.
- Employees may join a union at any time, and coverage follows from membership and the scope of the collective.
- Union access provisions to workplaces.
- Bargaining obligations where bargaining is initiated.
Reviewing your onboarding
Several employment obligations cluster at the start of employment, and this is a reasonable moment to check the whole set:
- Written agreement signed before work starts — and if you use a trial period, signed before the first day, with genuine opportunity to take independent advice. This is the requirement most often failed and it invalidates the protection entirely.
- KiwiSaver automatic enrolment for eligible new employees, with the information pack provided.
- The union information obligation within 30 days.
- Health and safety induction covering your actual hazards.
- Wage and time records established from day one.
The other changes in the same Act
Worth knowing alongside, because they affect the same employment relationships:
- A statutory gateway test for contractor status, with five cumulative criteria.
- A $200,000 threshold above which employees cannot pursue unjustified dismissal or disadvantage grievances.
- Remedies removed entirely where an employee’s contributory conduct amounts to serious misconduct, and reinstatement and hurt-and-humiliation compensation removed where conduct contributed short of that.
Coming separately
The Employment Leave Act has also passed, repealing the Holidays Act 2003 and moving annual and sick leave to hours-based accrual from an employee’s first day. A two-year implementation applies with the new system starting in 2028, and the Holidays Act continues to apply until then.
Employment New Zealand publishes guidance on the changes and free employment agreement builders, and the Act is available at legislation.govt.nz with no copyright in the official text.
Act in force 21 February 2026. General information only, not legal advice.
