Protections for employees who choose to discuss their pay now in force

At a glance

• The Employment Relations (Employee remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Act 2025 received Royal Assent and came into force this week.
• Employees in New Zealand can now freely discuss or enquire about pay without fear of employer retaliation.
• A new personal grievance ground protects employees from adverse conduct linked to remuneration disclosure.
• Pay secrecy clauses are no longer enforceable; employers should avoid including them in future contracts

The Employment Relations (Employee remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Act 2025 received Royal Assent and came into force this week. 

The Act protects employees who choose to discuss what they are paid by the creation of a new form of personal grievance where an employer has 'engaged in adverse conduct for a remuneration disclosure reason'.

In order to pursue a claim, an employee will need to demonstrate they have been treated adversely for:

• Discussing their remuneration.
• Inquiring into the remuneration of another employee.
• Participating in a discussion about their own, or another employee’s, remuneration.

'Adverse conduct' includes being dismissed, refused the same terms and conditions or opportunities for promotion as others, and other detrimental treatment.

In essence, the Act allows employees to discuss how much they are paid, and employers will be prohibited from taking retaliatory action in response. 

The act does not, however, require any employee to disclose what they are paid if they do not wish to do so.