Fair Pay Agreements

The Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022 is in force.

The Fair Pay Agreements system brings together unions and employer associations to bargain for employment terms and conditions for all covered employees in an industry or occupation. The system includes support for bargaining parties to help them navigate the bargaining process and reach an outcome, as well as processes to ensure compliance.

Information and guidance about Fair Pay Agreements can be found on the Employment New Zealand website(external link)

The Fair Pay Agreements Act commenced on 1 December 2022.

Fair Pay Agreements dashboard

The Fair Pay Agreements dashboard provides an overview of all applications to initiate bargaining received by the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and their progress through the Fair Pay Agreements system.

Fair Pay Agreements application progress

You can track the progress of the applications on this page and find key information about each proposed Fair Pay Agreement, including information on the bargaining parties, links to public submissions, notices, relevant decisions, and publications.

The dashboard is updated to reflect Fair Pay Agreements currently enforced.

View the Fair Pay Agreements dashboard

Employment Relations Sector Reports

Employment relations sector reports aim to meet an anticipated need for data to support activities and decision making as relates to the Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022.

Employment relations sector reports

Developing the Fair Pay Agreements policy and background information

The Fair Pay Agreements Bill was introduced into Parliament on 29 March 2022 and received Royal Assent on 1 November 2022.

Fair Pay Agreements Bill(external link) — New Zealand Parliament

Read the announcements made on the Fair Pay Agreements Bill:

Historic day for everyday workers as Fair Pay Agreements Bill passes third reading(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz

A major step towards a fairer system for New Zealand workers(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz

Fair Pay Agreements to improve pay and conditions for essential workers(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz

In May 2021, the Government announced the design of the Fair Pay Agreements system. The design was informed by the Fair Pay Agreements Working Group and public consultation, as well as involvement from the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and BusinessNZ.

Fair Pay Agreements Regulations

The first package of Fair Pay Agreements Regulations were published on 1 December 2022 and can be found on the New Zealand Legislation website.

Read the Fair Pay Agreements Regulations 2022 (external link) — New Zealand Legislation

The cabinet papers that set out the policy decisions in relation to these regulations are:

The second package of Fair Pay Agreements Regulations were published on 11 May 2023 and can be found on the New Zealand Legislation website.

Read the Fair Pay Agreements Regulations 2023(external link) — New Zealand Legislation

Background documents

Fair Pay Agreement discussion paper

In October 2019, the Government released a discussion paper that sought feedback on a range of options for the design of a Fair Pay Agreements system. The consultation closed 27 November 2019.

Fair Pay Agreement Working Group

A Fair Pay Agreement Working Group was set up in June 2018 to make recommendations on the design of a sector-level bargaining system. It was chaired by Rt Hon Jim Bolger ONZ.

The Working Group provided its recommendations to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety in December 2018.

Proactive release of policy advice on Fair Pay Agreements

View all policy advice documents on Fair Pay Agreements(external link)

Related Government work

Introducing Fair Pay Agreements supports the economic factors needed to improve child and youth wellbeing in the Government’s Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy action plan.

Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy(external link) — Child and Youth Wellbeing website

Last updated: 19 September 2023