Having a fair workplace Te whai wāhi mahi tōkeke

Employees perform best when they understand their roles, responsibilities, and how their work contributes to the bigger picture. Setting expectations early helps prevent confusion and keeps everyone focused on a shared goal. 

One of the best ways to do this is by putting clear policies and procedures in place. 

A policy is a set of rules or principles to be followed in a particular area – for example, a leave policy might explain your expectations for employees requesting leave, like applying at least a week in advance.

A procedure is the way something is done – for example, the forms that need to be filled out for requesting leave.

Policies and procedures support employment agreements by providing detail on matters that might not be negotiated as part of an employment agreement. These provide guidance on workplace behaviour, leave entitlements, and operational processes, ensuring consistency and fairness across your business.

Your business might need a range of different policies and procedures, depending on what you do. 

Here are a few key areas you'll likely need to cover:

• holidays and leave
• health, safety and wellbeing
• training and development
• code of conduct – including privacy and conflicts of interest
• information security.

Running a business means keeping track of essential records, following wage and tax requirements, and ensuring compliance laws. Keeping accurate records of pay, leave and employment details protects your business and helps avoid disputes.

Make sure you:

• maintain proper employee records, including pay and leave details
• follow wage and tax laws, including minimum wage requirements
• handle deductions and staff accommodation fairly and legally.

You must pay your employees at least the current minimum wage for every hour they work — no matter their role or how their pay is calculated.

Staying up to date with wage rates and making sure pay is fair and clearly outlined in employment agreements helps you meet your legal obligations and build trust with your team.

A healthy and well-supported team is a productive team. Ensuring employees get the breaks they need, have manageable workloads, and feel safe at work contributes to overall wellbeing.

Encouraging rest during the workday improves focus and reduces burnout, making it a win for both employees and your business.

Sometimes businesses hire workers for seasonal or casual work, in exchange for accommodation or board. Arrangements like this are common in industries like farming, hospitality and tourism.  

Workers are often: 

• seasonal or casual
• backpackers
• travellers
• willing workers on organic farm (WWOOFers). 

These workers are likely to be employees and are protected under New Zealand employment law. 

If you provide your workers with meals or a place to live, there are employment, tenancy and tax rules to follow. Some of these rules exist to protect workers, and make sure everyone gets the pay they are entitled to and healthy accommodation to live in.

It’s important to regularly check that your business is structured the best way for success. Having the right roles structured the right way means you can meet the needs of your customers and take your business to the next level. 

If things have changed and you think a new structure could improve the way your business operates, consider restructuring. This doesn’t necessarily mean making employees redundant (although that could happen), but it might mean peoples’ roles change.  

Restructuring can involve: 

• adding new roles
• merging two or more existing roles
• losing roles that are surplus to requirements
• a combination of these things. 

Employment laws protect some groups of employees in certain restructuring situations.