Haven | KiwiSaver Guide for Employers

Business KiwiSaver

KiwiSaver Guide for Employers

4 MIN READ September 7, 2022

Often we think of KiwiSaver in terms of our personal use, but if you own a business, you need to make sure you’re doing the right thing for your employees.

Even if you offer a registered superannuation scheme and have an exemption from the Financial Markets Authority, you can’t just ignore KiwiSaver.

As an employer, you must:

make KiwiSaver available to any staff who want it.
organise salary deductions for new employees who are KiwiSaver members.
make employer contributions of at least 3 per cent for employees who are KiwiSaver members.

KiwiSaver for new employees

When you bring on a new employee, you are responsible for checking whether they are eligible to be a KiwiSaver member and if they should be automatically enrolled. You can check their eligibility on the IRD website.

If they aren’t already enrolled

You’ll need to give them a KiwiSaver information pack within 7 days of the employee starting work. This information pack includes a KS2 KiwiSaver deduction form which the employee can use to let you know whether they want member contributions to be deducted at 3%, 4%, 6%, 8%, or 10% of their gross salary or wages. If they don’t advise you of their preferred rate, you should deduct member contributions at the default rate of 3%.

If they are already enrolled

If your new employee is already a KiwiSaver member, they need to give you a completed KS2 KiwiSaver deduction form, and you must deduct member contributions from their first pay, unless you are given a valid savings suspension notice.

A new employee who is an existing KiwiSaver member must:

tell you their full name and IRD number
let you know whether they want member contributions deducted at the rate of 3%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10% or give you a valid savings suspension notice.

KiwiSaver for existing employees

Existing employees aren’t enrolled automatically into KiwiSaver, but they can join as long as they meet the eligibility criteria by contracting directly with their chosen KiwiSaver scheme provider or joining through you as their employer if they are 18 or over.

If an existing employee has told you they’d like to join KiwiSaver, you need to check if they’re eligible and:

give them a KiwiSaver information pack within seven days
start making member contributions, at the rate they’ve chosen, from their next pay
make compulsory employer contributions
fill out a New Employee KiwiSaver form (IR346K) and send it to the IRD

Employee opt-out request

If a new employee wishes to opt out of KiwiSaver, you need to:

make sure they’re within the two to eight week opt-out period (on or after day 14 and on or before day 56 of starting employment)
stop deducting member contributions and making compulsory employer contributions from their next pay
send both the opt-out and the New employee and KiwiSaver details – IR346K forms to the IRD so they know that the new employee was automatically enrolled and has opted out.

Savings suspensions

KiwiSaver members can take a break from saving 12 months after they’ve made their first contribution to their KiwiSaver – this is called a savings suspension. It can be for a minimum of three months, up to a maximum of one year.

An employee can apply for a savings suspension by calling the IRD, and if approved, either your employee will show you a valid savings suspension notice or the IRD will notify you. You can stop deducting member contributions and making employer contributions once you’ve seen a valid savings suspension notice.

An employee can give you notice that they’d like to restart their deductions but they can’t ask you to start and stop deductions too often; the minimum period before requesting a change is three months.

You aren’t required to pay compulsory employer contributions if an employee is taking a savings suspension, but if you choose to, you can continue to make employer contributions.

Have a question about your KiwiSaver obligations as an employer? Get in touch with our team for more information now.

Related resources

Business

4 financial goals for the year ahead

2 MIN READ

Every year, people make a New Year’s resolution to get their finances in order. Whether…

Read article

Business

4 goals to help you start the new year off…

2 MIN READ

As 2022 comes to a close, you’re likely ready to wind down and relax. You…

Read article

Business

Teaching your kids about money

2 MIN READ

Teaching kids about money will make a huge difference to their own perception of money…

Read article

Are you ready to get started?

Fill out your details below and someone from our friendly team will be in touch soon.

"*" indicates required fields

Terms & Conditions

Eligibility.
The Haven My Food Bag Promotion is only open to legal residents of New Zealand who are eighteen (18) years of age or older.To be eligible for the prize you must have a delivery address within the My Food Bag delivery area. My Food Bag delivers to most addresses in the postcodes found here.
Disqualified Participants’ are: (a) all Haven Financial Advisers employees (b) all people under the age of 18 years (c) all people without a qualifying delivery address.
Competition Period.
The Competition begins on Monday 3rd July 2023 to Saturday 30th September 2023.
How To Enter.Complete a financial review with any of Haven’s advisers for any service during the entry period and you will receive one entry into the Competition.
Or,
Refer someone else to complete a financial review with any of Haven’s advisers for any service during the entry period and if they complete the review you will receive one entry each into the Competition.
Drawing the Winners
We will select 3 winners. The final winners will be drawn on Monday 2nd October via random selection by Haven Financial Advisers.Only the person who originally entered the Promotion can be awarded the prize.
The Winners will be determined by Haven Financial Advisers and will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The Winners will be notified by email, phone (voice or text), mail or in person. Where attempts to contact a Winner fail (e.g. when the Winner cannot be contacted by phone after three attempts or mail sent is returned) Haven Financial Advisers will select another winner. If, after successful notification, the prize is not collected within two months of being announced, it will be regarded as forfeit. (Note: 3 attempts to contact the Winner will include individual calls to any numbers provided at the time of entry.
Where the Winner is required to claim the prize in person, they must provide proper identification (eg driver’s licence, passport, birth certificate).
The Prizes
The Prizes (8 weekly My Choice (4 nights for 4) My Food Bag deliveries) are not redeemable for cash or transferable. In the event that the Prize specified in the Competition becomes unavailable for any reason, Haven Financial Advisers may substitute a prize of like or equal value.In order to claim the prize the winner will need to sign up to the My Food Bag website to manage their deliveries. In order to sign up a credit or debit card will need to be added to the account for any upgrades or additional grocery items beyond the Prize.
The Winner takes the Prize entirely at his/her own risk and indemnifies Haven Financial Advisers in respect of any claim for any accident, injury, property damage or loss of life that may occur in connection with the prize. The Winner is responsible for all insurance, tax or other costs that may be associated with the Prize. Where the Prize has associated terms and conditions the Winner accepts the Prize subject to those terms and conditions and restrictions.
The Prize must be taken as stated and no compensation will be payable if the Winner is unable to use the Prize as stated.
The Promoter (Haven Financial Advisers Limited) will not be liable for any prize(s) that do not reach the winners for reasons beyond the Promoter’s reasonable control. Where a prize is being supplied by a third party, the Promoter accepts no responsibility in connection with the provision of the prize, including without limitation, the failure of the winner to receive ownership of, or use of, the prize or any performance issues associated with the prize.
The Promoter will not be liable for failure to provide (or delay in providing) the Prize resulting from any events, circumstances or causes beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of god (natural disasters), acts of war or terrorism, national emergencies, issues of public health and safety, pandemic, mechanical breakdown, industry disputes, riots or failure of communication or power supply or voluntary or involuntary compliance with any regulation, law or order of any government.
Prizes may be subject to additional terms and conditions imposed by a third party.
The Promoter will not be responsible for any loss or damage suffered by entrants or anyone else as a result of, arising out of, or in any way connected with the Promotion or its prizes.
Social Media & Marketing
Where the Promotion is conducted across social media: a. Entrants’ conduct must comply with the rules of that social media platform. b. The Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat. These social media platforms are in no way responsible for any aspect of the Promotion.By entering this Promotion, entrants agree to the use of their names, photographs and likeness for promotional/advertising purposes, and agree to make themselves reasonably available for this purpose. Any copyright associated with an entry will be owned by the Promoter.
The Promoter collects and holds personal information provided by entrants for the purposes of administering this Promotion and for future Promoter promotional purposes. All personal information provided by entrants will be held by the Promoter and will not be provided to third parties unless otherwise specifically set out. Under the Privacy Act 2020, entrants have the right to access and correct their personal information.

Terms & Conditions

1. Eligibility.

The Haven Travel Promotion is only open to legal residents of New Zealand who are eighteen (18) years of age or older.

Disqualified Participants’ are: (a) all Haven Financial Advisers employees (b) all people under the age of 18 years.

2. Competition Period.

The Competition begins on Monday 13th March 2023 to Wednesday 31st May 2023.

3. How To Enter.

Complete a financial review with any of Haven’s advisers for any service during the entry period and you will receive one entry into the Competition.

4. Drawing the Winner

The final winner will be drawn on Monday 5th June via random selection by Haven Financial Advisers.

Only the person who originally entered the Promotion can be awarded the prize.
The Winner will be determined by Haven Financial Advisers and will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The Winner will be notified by email, phone (voice or text), mail or in person. Where attempts to contact the Winner fail (eg when the Winner cannot be contacted by phone after three attempts or mail sent is returned) Haven Financial Advisers will select another winner. If, after successful notification, the prize is not collected within two months of being announced, it will be regarded as forfeit. (Note: 3 attempts to contact the Winner will include individual calls to any numbers provided at the time of entry.
Where the Winner is required to claim the prize in person, they must provide proper identification (eg driver’s licence, passport, birth certificate).

5. The Prize

The Prize (a travel voucher valued at $4,000 NZD) is not redeemable for cash or transferable. In the event that the Prize specified in the Competition becomes unavailable for any reason, Haven Financial Advisers may substitute a prize of like or equal value.
The Winner takes the Prize entirely at his/her own risk and indemnifies Haven Financial Advisers in respect of any claim for any accident, injury, property damage or loss of life that may occur in connection with the prize. The Winner is responsible for all insurance, tax or other costs that may be associated with the Prize. Where the Prize has associated terms and conditions the Winner accepts the Prize subject to those terms and conditions and restrictions.
The Prize must be taken as stated and no compensation will be payable if the Winner is unable to use the Prize as stated.
The Promoter (Haven Financial Advisers Limited) will not be liable for any prize(s) that do not reach the winners for reasons beyond the Promoter’s reasonable control. Where a prize is being supplied by a third party, the Promoter accepts no responsibility in connection with the provision of the prize, including without limitation, the failure of the winner to receive ownership of, or use of, the prize or any performance issues associated with the prize.
The Promoter will not be liable for failure to provide (or delay in providing) the Prize resulting from any events, circumstances or causes beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of god (natural disasters), acts of war or terrorism, national emergencies, issues of public health and safety, pandemic, mechanical breakdown, industry disputes, riots or failure of communication or power supply or voluntary or involuntary compliance with any regulation, law or order of any government.
Prizes may be subject to additional terms and conditions imposed by a third party (for example, vouchers may have additional terms and conditions and/or an expiry date or in the case of travel, additional terms and conditions may be imposed by airlines, service providers and venues).
The Promoter will not be responsible for any loss or damage suffered by entrants or anyone else as a result of, arising out of, or in any way connected with the Promotion or its prizes.

6. Social Media & Marketing

Where the Promotion is conducted across social media: a. Entrants’ conduct must comply with the rules of that social media platform. b. The Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat. These social media platforms are in no way responsible for any aspect of the Promotion.
By entering this Promotion, entrants agree to the use of their names, photographs and likeness for promotional/advertising purposes, and agree to make themselves reasonably available for this purpose. Any copyright associated with an entry will be owned by the Promoter.
The Promoter collects and holds personal information provided by entrants for the purposes of administering this Promotion and for future Promoter promotional purposes. All personal information provided by entrants will be held by the Promoter and will not be provided to third parties unless otherwise specifically set out. Under the Privacy Act 2020, entrants have the right to access and correct their personal information.