Employees who discuss or disclose their salaries or wages have increased protection from adverse treatment, under a change to Employment Relations Act.
The Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill, creates new grounds for personal grievance if an employee has experienced negative consequences because they discussed their remuneration.
The bill gained royal assent on 26 August 2025.
New grounds for personal grievance
The law change creates a ground for personal grievance if an employer (or a representative of the employer) engages "in adverse conduct for a remuneration disclosure reason".
This means that in the case an employer dismisses or disadvantages (or threatens to) an employee because they disclosed or discussed their remuneration with any other person (this will include inquiring about another employee’s pay), the employee would have grounds to take a grievance against their employer.
Employment agreements often contain provisions that prevent employees from discussing or disclosing their salary, wages or other conditions to third parties. While such clauses are still lawful, the change means employers could face legal action for penalising employees who discuss their pay.
Reasons for the change
The law change brings New Zealand into line with other countries (such as Australia, the UK, and Canada) that have prohibited adverse action for pay discussions because it can lead to pay secrecy and discriminatory outcomes, especially for women.
The gender pay gap in New Zealand is currently 8.2 percent - meaning women earn on average 8.2 percent less than men for similar work (the gaps are even larger for Māori and Pasifika women).
While there has been no indication New Zealand will follow other countries, such as Australia, in introducing mandatory remuneration reporting, the Employee Remuneration Disclosure Bill aims to make it easier to identify and remedy pay discrimination on an individual employee level, by protecting employees who choose to discuss or disclose their earnings to others.
How MyHR can help
If your employment agreements contain pay confidentiality clauses, you should review these (and any processes around their enforcement).
The MyHR team are experts at drafting clear, legally-robust employment agreements, so reach out if you need any assistance.
