Changes to Minimum Wage from 1st April 2011
The Minister of Labour announced increases to the minimum wage rates from 1st April 2011.
Adults
All employees aged 16 and over who are not new entrants or trainees, the minimum wage will increase to $13.00 per hour. That's $104 for an eight hour day, and $520 for a $40 hour week.
New Entrants and Trainees
The minimum wage for this group will increase to $10.40 an hour. That is $83.20 for an eight hour day, and $416 for a 40 hour week.
A new entrant is aged 16 and 17 but does not include those who:
- Have completed 200 hours of work, or 3 months of employment, whichever is shorter
- Are supervising or training other workers
A Trainee is an employee aged 16 or over doing recognised industry training involving at least 60 credits a year.
There is no statutory minimum wage for emplyees who are under 16 years old.
Employment Relations Act and Holiday Act Changes effective from 1st April 2011
The main changes include:
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Employers can now offer their staff the choice to cash in one week of their annual holiday entitlement. This ‘week’ can be spread over the entitlement year.
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It is now possible for public holidays to be transferred to another working day. Employer and the employee must be in agreement and requests must be made in writing. This gives great flexibility to manage the needs of the business and individual requirements for these days. However this cannot reduce the number of public holidays your staff member is entitled to.
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The 90 day trial period has been extended to employers irrespective of the number of staff they have. So with the correct employment contract in place a new employee who is given notice before the end of trial period cannot raise a personal grievance on the grounds of unjustified dismissal. Note, however that this does not stop them raising grievances on other issues
Other changes include:
- Changes to the personal grievance provisions
- Requiring consent to be given before a union can access a workplace, and confirming communication with employees can occur during collective bargaining.
- Requiring employers to retain employment agreements
- Extending the role and powers of labour inspectors.
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