Fair Pay Agreements
The Fair Pay Agreements Act has been passed.
On this page
The Fair Pay Agreements system brings together unions and employer associations to bargain for employment terms 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.
The Fair Pay Agreement system 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
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 Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood’s announcements on the Fair Pay Agreement 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
In May 2021, the Government announced the design of the Fair Pay Agreement system. The design was informed by the Fair Pay Agreement Working Group and public consultation, as well as involvement from the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and BusinessNZ.
In addition to the Fair Pay Agreements Bill, a parliamentary paper was lodged on 31 March 2022. This explains that the Government proposes to change the Bill, to make the default bargaining party role voluntary, and add a new process (the backstop) where, if no eligible representative steps forward to be a bargaining party on one side, then the Employment Relations Authority will set the terms of the Fair Pay Agreement.
The Committee received public submissions on this backstop proposal alongside the Bill through the Select Committee process.
Parliamentary paper on a proposed policy change to the Fair Pay Agreements Bill G.46C(external link) — New Zealand Parliament
Read the Minister’s announcement on the Fair Pay Agreement system(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz
The proposed Fair Pay Agreement system [PDF 441KB]
Fair Pay Agreements Regulations
The Fair Pay Agreement Regulations were published on 1 December 2022 and can be found on the New Zealand Legislation website.
Read the Fair Pay Agreements Regulations 2022 on the New Zealand Legislation website(external link)
The cabinet papers that set out the policy decisions in relation to these regulations are:
If you want to know how to access information about the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations 2006 (ANZSCO) and Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification 2006 (ANZSIC) systems you can find more information here:
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.
View all of the background documents for the discussion paper(external link)
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 looked at:
- the criteria and process to initiate bargaining on a Fair Pay Agreement
- how bargaining participants will be identified and selected
- what Fair Pay Agreements should cover in terms of scope
- bargaining rules and dispute resolution processes, and ratification and enforcement of Fair Pay Agreements.
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
Contact us
You can contact us about Fair Pay Agreements by emailing us at fairpayagreements@mbie.govt.nz.