What employer records do you need to keep

Record keeping isn't the most exciting part of being an employer. It is one of the most important.

Good records protect your employees by making sure they're paid correctly. They protect you if a dispute ever arises. And they're a legal requirement.

The good news is most of it is straightforward once you have the right tools, systems and processes in place. 

What you must keep

What you're legally required to keep

Under the Employment Relations Act, you must keep written records for every employee covering:

• Employment agreements All employment agreements and any signed variations.
• Hours worked Hours worked each day and each week.
• Wages paid Wages paid, including the rate and how it was calculated.
• Leave records Leave taken, leave balances, and any leave paid out — including when it was 'cashed up' instead of taken.
• Deductions Deductions made from pay, the permission to make them, and the reason.
• Personal information you must keep: name, postal address, age, if under 20 
• Personal information records you should keep but are not required to: copies of employees’ personal contact details, emergency contact details, etc. 

All employee types This applies to all employees regardless of type - permanent, fixed-term, and casual. See Keeping employment records — Employment New Zealand for the full picture.

How long to keep records

How long to keep records

The timeframe depends on the type of record.

Employment records: six years Employment agreements, hours, leave, and wages records must be kept for six years after employment ends.

Tax records: seven years Payroll records, PAYE filings, and anything related to your tax obligations must be kept for seven years.

A note on Privacy Act obligations Under the Privacy Act 2020, you can only hold personal information for as long as you have a legitimate need for it. Once your legal obligation to keep a record has lapsed, you should no longer hold it. That means having a process for disposing of former employee records once the retention period is up - securely deleting digital files or shredding physical documents. Holding personal information indefinitely isn't just unnecessary; it creates privacy risk and puts you in breach of your Privacy Act obligations.

Why good records matter

What good record keeping actually does

Most employment disputes come down to a few questions: was this person paid correctly, did they take leave they weren't entitled to, was the process fair, what was agreed? Good records answer all of those questions quickly.

Signed employment agreements Your starting point for almost any dispute. They establish what was agreed - pay rates, hours, any special arrangements. An unsigned agreement is better than nothing; a signed one is what you want. The Employment Agreement Builder on business.govt.nz is the free, government-backed tool for creating compliant agreements.

Hours records Protect you against underpayment claims. If an employee says they worked 50 hours in a week and you paid them for 40, your timesheet records are what you rely on to show what actually happened.

Leave records Protect you against claims that leave wasn't provided, calculated, or paid out correctly. Keep leave requests, approvals, balances, the payment rate, and how it was calculated. If an employee asks to cash out annual leave, the request and your agreement must both be in writing.

Pay records Show what was deducted, what was contributed, and what the employee received. A clear audit trail for every pay run.

Records of conversations and decisions Especially around performance management and any changes to employment terms. A brief, dated note of what was discussed and agreed can make a significant difference if something is disputed later.

What payroll software handles

What payroll software handles for you

A payroll system automatically maintains records of every pay run. This takes a significant chunk of the record-keeping obligation off your plate - payroll-related records are generated and stored as you run your pays.

Recorded in a payroll system:

• Gross wages
• Tax calculations
• Deductions, including totals for debt repayment if relevant
• KiwiSaver contributions, status
• Payday filing submissions
• Payslips
• Leave requests, payments, and balances
• Additional payments and allowances
• Personal contact details
• Emergency contact details

Employee access: Your employees can typically access their own payslip history through the system - useful when they need it for loan approvals, rental applications, or their own records.

Other records to manage

Records that sit outside payroll

Some records sit outside your payroll system and need their own home.

Employment agreements and signed variations Store them somewhere secure and accessible. A locked filing cabinet, a secure shared drive, or a dedicated HR folder all work. The key is being able to find them when you need them.

Performance and conduct records Notes from performance conversations, written warnings, and any related correspondence.

Health and safety records Induction records, incident reports, and any health and safety documentation relevant to your employees' roles. See WorkSafe's guidance for small businesses for what's required.

A simple starting point A simple folder per employee - physical or digital - that holds their agreement, any signed variations, and notes from significant conversations is all you need to get started. Keep it somewhere you can find it. Add to it as things happen, rather than trying to reconstruct it later.

Employing migrants

If you employ migrants you have additional obligations

If you employ anyone on a visa, you have record-keeping obligations on top of the standard ones.

For all employers of migrants:

• Check the employee's right to work before they start
• Keep records of what you checked, how you checked it (VisaView, for example), and when
• Record any visa conditions - limits on hours, the type of work permitted - and how the role complies
• Re-check work rights periodically on temporary visas, especially as expiry dates approach

If you're an accredited employer: Immigration New Zealand can audit accredited employers, so you need to be able to demonstrate compliance with your accreditation obligations.

• Keep records showing the employee is being paid in accordance with the job check and employment agreement
• Keep evidence the employee is doing the work the visa was granted for
• Record any changes to the role, hours, or pay that may be relevant to visa conditions
• Document any settlement services or support you agreed to provide as part of accreditation
• Keep immigration-related records separately and make sure they're easy to locate and produce on request

Accreditation can be revoked if Immigration New Zealand finds you haven't met your obligations, which would prevent you from hiring migrants in future. Immigration New Zealand's employer guidance is the starting point, and an immigration adviser can help with more complex situations.

The takeaway

Good record keeping isn't about creating a paper trail for its own sake. It's about being able to answer questions clearly when they come up: what was agreed, what was paid, what was taken, what was decided.

A payroll system handles most of it automatically. The rest is a small amount of admin that takes minutes per employee per year - far less than the time it takes to reconstruct records under pressure when something goes wrong.

Further reading

• Keeping employment records — Employment New Zealand
• Privacy Act 2020 — Office of the Privacy Commissioner
• Employing migrants — Immigration New Zealand

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