As an employer of children and young people you have an opportunity to provide a positive induction into working life. A good introduction to employment practices will not only aid a smooth employment transition for the child or young person into employment, and make a better employee, but may also impact on the young persons’ subsequent experiences in the workplace.
You are required by law to provide all your employees with a written employment agreement. This is also an opportunity to clarify your expectations, your employee’s entitlements and obligations and promote good employment practices from the outset. The Department of Labour provides an employment agreement builder to help put together an employment agreement with your employee.
You are also required to retain a signed copy of the employment agreement, and provide a copy to your employees if they request this. It is good practice to provide them with a copy regardless.
For the most part employing young people should be no different than employing other employees.
However, there are some laws that apply specifically to young people in employment.
As every person in New Zealand must attend school between the ages of 6 and 16, anyone than 16 cannot work during school hours or perform work that may interfere with their schooling.
There is no minimum working age in New Zealand, but there are some rules that specifically apply to young employees:
For further and information, factsheets and other resources please see Further information section