Negotiating your employment agreement
When starting a new job you should sign an employment agreement. It covers the conditions of your employment and usually includes things like your salary, the hours that you will be required to work, your holiday entitlement, your position description and much more.
On this page
- Make sure you understand your employment agreement before signing it
Employment agreements and the law
- Every job should be covered by an employment agreement. It could be either a collective agreement or an individual agreement.
- If you are offered a job, you usually have a couple of days to consider the offer.
- Before you accept the offer, ask for the agreement to be sent to you, so you can look over it.
- Think: what are the most important things to you? For example, working a fixed amount of hours.
- Employment agreements have to follow certain legal guidelines. For example, they should what pay you will receive.
- Before signing an employment agreement, read it thoroughly, and get advice to ensure the agreement is fair.
- Unions can help you check the agreement is fair, and support you in negotiating a collective employment agreement. You may have to join the union to get their help.
You can get free advice on your employment agreement from:
- Employment Relations helpline on 0800 800 863 or visit their website
- Citizens Advice Bureau on 0800 367 222 or visit their website
- Community law centres – provide a range of community legal service.
- Employment Relations website
- Citizens Advice Bureau website
- NZ Council of Trade Unions website - find out what union represents your job
- Worksite website - get answers to employment questions
Negotiating your salary
Salary negotiations are normally done after an interview, at the time you are offered a job.
So, even before your interview make sure you know your market worth – you can do this by finding out these three things:
- data on starting salaries in the industry
- the potential salary range of the job you are applying for
- where you see yourself in that range, considering your career stage and experience.
- Check pay rates for different jobs on the job profile pages
- Waikato University website - advice on job offers and salary negotiations
Questions to consider before accepting a job
1. The organisation
- Do the organisation’s goals and beliefs match yours?
- Is the organisation small, medium or large? Maybe you prefer a larger company with international locations so there is potential to move around?
- Is it a new or established company?
- Is there a supportive work team?
2. The job
- Does the job match your interests?
- Does it make good use of your skills?
- How important is the job within the company? Is this important to you?
- What about the hours – are they flexible, regular or is it shift work?
- How long do people tend to stay in this job? (A high turnover of staff may indicate that staff are not happy there.)
- Is travel, parking or public transport a consideration?
- Does the location suit you?
3. The opportunities offered by the employer
- Is there a chance to learn new skills?
- Are there any training programmes in place?
- What opportunities are there for promotion?
4. Salary and benefits
- Is the salary offer fair?
- What is the cost of living?
- How often is the salary reviewed?
- Is a commission offered? Are there bonuses?
- What are the holiday and leave provisions like?
- Are there any benefits and discounts? For example, gym, share offers, buying privileges, superannuation employer contributions, or childcare?
- Do you get supplied with technology? For example, a laptop, cellphone or PDA?
Consider all of these factors when negotiating your employment agreement and weighing one job offer against another.
