Is job lock keeping you in your job? What NZ law says you keep and lose

Job lock is staying in a job you’d otherwise leave because leaving costs too much. The new role might pay more, but you’d give up leave you’ve earned, security you’ve built up or, for some migrants, a work visa tied to that one employer.

Most people in work are reasonably content. In Stats NZ’s 2023 General Social Survey, 74% of employed people said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their job. Job lock matters for the rest, and for anyone weighing an offer against what they’d walk away from.

What you lose when you move, and what comes with you

Sick leave is the clearest cost. Employment New Zealand says you’re entitled to 10 days’ paid sick leave once you’ve worked for the same employer continuously for six months, and unused days can build up to 20. It also says unused sick leave can’t be cashed up or paid out when you leave, so a new job means waiting another six months.

Parental leave runs on the same kind of clock. Employment New Zealand says six months with the same employer, at an average of at least 10 hours a week, makes you eligible for up to 26 weeks’ leave, and 12 months or more lets you take up to 52 weeks. The government’s parental leave payments are a separate entitlement with different requirements.

Annual leave travels better. Community Law says any annual leave owing must be paid in your final pay, and if you leave before your first 12 months are up, your employer must pay you 8% of your gross earnings as holiday pay.

KiwiSaver goes with you too. Inland Revenue says you fill in a KS2 deduction form for your new employer, which must then make compulsory employer contributions. The default rate for both you and your employer rose to 3.5% on 1 April 2026 and is due to reach 4% on 1 April 2028, according to IRD.

MBIE says the Employment Leave Act will replace the Holidays Act on 6 August 2028, and from then annual and sick leave will build up in hours from your first day. Bereavement and family violence leave will also apply from day one. Until then, the current rules apply.

Trial periods, restraints and visas

A new job can also start with less security. Employment New Zealand says a new employer can agree a trial period of up to 90 calendar days, as long as it’s in an employment agreement you sign before you start. If you’re dismissed during a valid trial, you can’t raise a personal grievance about it except in some circumstances.

A restraint of trade clause can stop you taking a job at all. Employment New Zealand says these clauses stop former employees working in similar businesses, usually within a set area and for a set time, and that they should be reasonable or they may not be enforceable.

Labour MP Helen White’s member’s Bill, the Employment Relations (Restraint of Trade) Amendment Bill, would ban restraints for employees earning less than three times the minimum wage. Higher earners could still be restrained for up to six months, but only if the employer paid compensation of at least half their weekly earnings for each week.

Parliament’s Education and Workforce Committee reported on the Bill in May 2024 and recommended by majority that it not proceed. In the report, National said unreasonable restraints are already unenforceable, and ACT said the Bill could discourage entrepreneurship and favour larger businesses.

Labour said no one knows how many New Zealand workers are subject to restraints. Parliament’s website shows the Bill still waiting for its second reading.

For migrants on an Accredited Employer Work Visa, or AEWV, the visa is tied to the job. Immigration New Zealand says AEWV holders may work only in the job, for the employer and in the location stated on their visa. To change any of those, you need a variation of conditions, a Job Change or a new visa.

INZ warns that a worker doing a different job on their current visa may face deportation, and their employer an infringement notice. Employment New Zealand adds that INZ doesn’t allow trial periods for AEWV workers.

So is it a problem?

That depends on which of these apply to you. Before you resign, check your employment agreement for a restraint clause, ask whether the new role comes with a trial period, and note how close you are to the six-month or 12-month marks. If you’re on a work visa, talk to INZ or a licensed immigration adviser before you accept.

Some costs are real. Others are six months of sick leave you’d earn back by the time the new job feels normal.