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How to become an employer
No matter how long you’ve been in business for, hiring your first employee is a real milestone and an exciting step to take. In the rush to get someone on board, however, it can be easy to forget all there is to do.
Here’s what you need to know to make a great transition to being an employer, meet your obligations, and not waste time when new staff do arrive.
Confirm what kind of help you're going to get
Do you know you want to recruit a permanent, fixed-term or casual employee? If so, you first need to officially register as an employer with Inland Revenue.
Note: You do not need to register as an employer if you’re hiring contractors (other than those on schedular payments) or getting an unpaid intern/volunteer.
If you haven’t yet thoroughly researched what kind of help you need, you should read Hiring the right employee type.
Guide to staff types
Register as an employer
Go ahead and officially register as an employer with IR if you:
- know you’re going to hire a permanent, fixed-term or casual employee
- have your IR number ready
- have thought about whether you are going to offer your staff payroll donations or fringe benefits
- know of your responsibilities in relation to KiwiSaver accounts of your employees.
If you’re not sure of all the above, a good resource to help answer these questions is Inland Revenue’s First-time employer’s guide. If you are sure of the above — and you have the information at hand - you can now go ahead and either:
- use Inland Revenue’s register as an employer online service
- post a completed Employer registration form (IR334) to IR.
Register as an employer(external link) — Inland Revenue
Employing someone(external link) — Inland Revenue
Find out what you know about hiring and managing people.
