Hon Craig Foss
Minister for Small Business
17 October 2016
Media Statement

Online business tool proves popular

A free Business.govt.nz online tool is proving extremely popular, generating an employment agreement for New Zealand businesses every 12 minutes, with a 95 per cent satisfaction rating, Small Business Minister Craig Foss says.

“In New Zealand every employee must have a written employment agreement outlining important contractual details such as hours of work and rate of pay,” Mr Foss says.

“The Employment Agreement Builder is an innovative online solution that makes it easier for businesses to comply with their legal obligations.

“For many small businesses owners, this means less time and stress hiring new employees and more time focusing on growing their business.”

The Employment Agreement Builder outlines what clauses are mandatory, recommended, or optional, and provides a check list to help employers meet their minimum employment standards obligations when hiring a new employee.

“The Employment Agreement Builder is one of many tools and quizzes available to help small businesses get ahead,” Mr Foss says.

“I encourage any employer who needs assistance creating a written employment agreement to get onto Business.govt.nz and try it out.”

Quick facts:

• An average of 857 agreements are completed per week

• 23,749 agreements have been completed since the tool was updated in April

• 70,316 visitors to the tool

• 44 per cent of all agreements completed had a trial period clause

• 31 per cent of agreements included a drug and alcohol clause.

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