Wage and time records in New Zealand: what employers must keep

The short answer

• Keep wage and time records, and holiday and leave records, for 6 years.
• The wage and time record shows the hours each employee worked on each day, and the wages paid in each pay period with how they were worked out.
• Employees can find out what you have recorded about them, and see their records, if they ask.
• If a Labour Inspector requires copies, you have 10 working days to supply them.

What the wage and time record has to show

For each employee, Employment New Zealand lists:

• their name, postal address, and age if they are under 20
• the kind of work they are employed to do, and whether they are on an individual or a collective agreement
• the date they started working for you
• the days they worked, and the number of hours worked on each of those days
• the wages paid in each pay period, and how they were calculated
• the cash value of any board or lodgings you provide
• the cash value of any entitlements surrendered for payment.

You also need to keep a copy of each employee's employment agreement. Daily hours matter here: a weekly total on its own does not show the hours worked on each day.

Holiday and leave records

• the dates the employee last became entitled to annual holidays and to sick leave
• the dates of leave taken, including annual holidays, sick leave and bereavement leave
• details of public holidays, and of any alternative holidays
• the amount paid as holiday pay when the employee left.

Who can see the records

Employees have the right to know everything you have recorded on their file, and to see their records if they ask. A Labour Inspector can require you to supply copies, and you must comply within 10 working days.

What happens if records are not kept

A Labour Inspector can issue infringement fees of $1,000 per offence, up to a maximum of $20,000 in a 3-month period. The Employment Relations Authority can impose penalties of up to $10,000 for an individual or $20,000 for a company.

Practical habits that keep timesheets compliant

• Record hours for each day, not just a total for the week or the pay period.
• Keep leave on the same footing as hours, so the holiday and leave record is complete without a hunt.
• Keep who approved each timesheet, and why anything was changed after it was submitted.
• Make sure whichever system holds your records lets you keep them, or export them, for the full six years, including after an employee leaves and after you stop using the system.

Where Vuqira fits

Vuqira records the hours each person works on each day, against the client, project and task, and keeps who approved each timesheet. Leave is requested and approved in Vuqira too, and approving a timesheet that did not pass its checks needs a reason, kept with the approver's name in the audit log. It does not run payroll, so wages, holiday pay and payslips stay in your payroll software. See how approvals work.