Fair Pay Agreements legislation

The Fair Pay Agreements Act Repeal Act received Royal assent on 19 December 2023 and came into force on 20 December 2023. This Act repeals the Fair Pay Agreements legislation.

The repeal Act and associated regulatory impact statements are set out below:

Fair Pay Agreements Act Repeal Bill(external link) — New Zealand Parliament

You can view a copy of the now repealed Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022 at:

Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022(external link) — New Zealand Legislation

The following information is a record of the work done by the previous government on the Fair Pay Agreements legislation:

Developing the Fair Pay Agreements policy and background information

The Fair Pay Agreements system aimed to bring together unions and employer associations to bargain for employment terms and conditions for all covered employees in an industry or occupation. The system included support for bargaining parties to help them navigate the bargaining process and reach an outcome, as well as processes to ensure compliance.

The Fair Pay Agreements Bill was introduced into Parliament on 29 March 2022 and received Royal Assent on 1 November 2022.

Fair Pay Agreements Bill(external link) — New Zealand Parliament

In May 2021, the Government announced the design of the Fair Pay Agreements system. The design was informed by the Fair Pay Agreements Working Group and public consultation, as well as involvement from the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and BusinessNZ.

Fair Pay Agreements Regulations

The first package of Fair Pay Agreements Regulations was published on 1 December 2022 and can be found on the New Zealand Legislation website. These regulations were repealed on 20 December 2023. 

Read the Fair Pay Agreements Regulations 2022(external link) — New Zealand Legislation

The cabinet papers that set out the policy decisions in relation to these regulations are:

The second package of Fair Pay Agreements Regulations were published on 11 May 2023 and can be found on the New Zealand Legislation website. These regulations were repealed on 20 December 2023. 

Read the Fair Pay Agreements Regulations 2023(external link) — New Zealand Legislation

Background documents

Fair Pay Agreement discussion paper

In October 2019, the Government released a discussion paper that sought feedback on a range of options for the design of a Fair Pay Agreements system. The consultation closed 27 November 2019.

Fair Pay Agreement Working Group

A Fair Pay Agreement Working Group was set up in June 2018 to make recommendations on the design of a sector-level bargaining system. It was chaired by Rt Hon Jim Bolger ONZ.

The Working Group provided its recommendations to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety in December 2018.

Proactive release of policy advice on Fair Pay Agreements

View all policy advice documents on Fair Pay Agreements(external link)