Good employment relationships occur when everyone has clear expectations about the role, working conditions and employment rights.

Every employee must have a written employment agreement.

This can be either an individual agreement or a collective agreement which sets out the terms and conditions of employment.

There are some provisions that must be included in employment agreements by law, and there are also a number of minimum conditions that must be met regardless of whether they are included in agreements.

We are surprised at the amount of callers who have no employment agreements in place.

Under s63A of the Employment Relations Act 2000 an employer must provide an employee with a written employment agreement, and penalties may be awarded under s64 if no written employment agreement is provided.

Employees should be given a reasonable amount of time to look over their agreements and return them. An employer must ensure that the agreement is signed and returned to them before you start work.  This is particularly important if the Agreement is relying on a 90 Day Trial Period being in place. 

For example, a standard agreement clause allows the employer to deduct wages in lieu of notice. This is not enforceable without your signature on the agreement. The reason for this is because there is a separate piece of legislation that protects employees’ wages under the Wages Protection Act 1983. Under the Act you may not make deductions from employees’ wages without their consent. The employment agreement provides the consent that is legally needed to carry out any deductions in employees’ wages.

Our company is able to check your employment agreement to ensure that it meets the required standard – and also to resolve situations where your employment contract has been breached.  Contact us if you have no employment contract and need our help to deal with your employer.

Call us on 0800 669 466 and let us connect you with the right people and proccesses to help you or email us using the form provided below.