Is there a minimum shift length in New Zealand? Short shifts, call-ins and being sent home early

No minimum shift length in law, and where three-hour minimums come from

No Act sets a shortest shift. A minimum engagement, such as "a shift is never less than three hours" or "you are paid for at least three hours whenever you are called in", is a term some employment agreements include, often collective ones. If yours has one, it binds your employer. If it does not, a two-hour or even one-hour shift is lawful. Many answers online describe Australian rules, which do not apply here.

Three rules apply to every shift, however short:

• The minimum wage for every hour. From 1 April 2026, $23.95 an hour for adults, or $19.16 on the starting-out or training rate. A two-hour shift at the adult rate is $47.90 before tax.
• All the time is work. Employment New Zealand counts opening and closing, cleaning up, staff meetings and on-the-job training as work, so a "two-hour" shift with a compulsory 20-minute briefing is a shift of two hours and twenty minutes.
• Breaks still apply. Under section 69ZD, a work period of 2 hours or more and up to 4 carries one paid 10-minute rest break, and more than 4 and up to 6 adds a 30-minute meal break. Our article on rest and meal breaks has the full table.

Being sent home early: shift cancellation notice and compensation

Section 67G sets the rules for cancelling a shift, and being sent home part way through is a cancellation of the rest of it. An employer must not cancel a shift unless your employment agreement sets out two things: a reasonable period of notice for cancelling a shift, and reasonable compensation if a shift is cancelled without that notice. With a valid clause, your employer either gives the notice or pays the compensation.

Section 67G(6) then gives you what you would have earned for the shift in three cases:

• your agreement has no valid cancellation clause and the shift is cancelled anyway;
• you are not told the shift is cancelled until it starts, for example when you arrive; or
• the remainder of the shift is cancelled after it has begun, which is being sent home early.

So if you are rostered 5 pm to 10 pm and sent home at 7 pm because it is quiet, you are entitled to be paid to 10 pm. That pay also counts towards your ordinary weekly pay and relevant daily pay for holidays.

The section applies to employees whose agreement requires shift work, and the Act defines a shift as work in a system that runs continuously, or nearly so, at times that can differ from day to day. If you are unsure whether your work fits, Employment New Zealand can help. A breach of section 67G(3) is a ground for a personal grievance, which you raise within 90 days. Separately, Employment New Zealand says that if your agreement sets your hours, your employer cannot cut them without your agreement.

Guaranteed hours and availability provisions

Section 67C says your agreed hours of work go in your employment agreement, and they can include a number of guaranteed hours, the days you work, and your start and finish times. Guaranteed hours are your floor: the hours your employer has committed to.

An employer who wants you on call beyond those hours needs an availability provision. Under section 67D it is only valid if your agreement has guaranteed hours, the employer has genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds, and you are paid reasonable compensation for being available. Without a valid one, section 67E lets you turn down work beyond your guaranteed hours, and section 67F stops your employer treating you worse for saying no, for example by cutting your shifts or dropping you from the roster.

A casual agreement with no guaranteed hours works the other way: you are not obliged to accept shifts, and the employer is not obliged to offer them. With no floor under your hours, a minimum engagement agreed when you accept the job is the only protection against very short shifts.

Short shifts and travel time

The shorter the shift, the more the trip to work costs you for each hour paid. Your everyday commute is unlikely to count as work, so a two-hour shift with 40 minutes' travel each way keeps you out for 3 hours and 20 minutes for $47.90 at the adult minimum wage, before bus fares or fuel. That is lawful, but it is a fair point to raise when you are offered a run of short shifts.

Travel your job requires during the day, such as moving from one site or client to the next between short visits, is different and generally is work. Our article on whether travel time is work time explains the test the courts use.

A dated record of when you were sent home

A claim under section 67G turns on times: when the shift was rostered to start and finish, when you were told it was cancelled, and when you actually left. Those are easy to lose a week later, so write them down the same day:

• the rostered start and finish, with a screenshot of the roster if you can;
• when and how you were told of the cancellation, such as the time of a text message;
• the time you actually started and the time you were sent home; and
• who sent you home, and any reason given.

Your Timesheets at jobtracker.co.nz holds all of it free on every plan: type a start and finish for each shift, add a note with the rostered times and who sent you home, and every change you make later is kept in the entry's history. If your pay and your record do not match and talking does not fix it, Employment New Zealand on 0800 20 90 20 can help, and arrears of wages can be claimed back six years.

Keep every shift on your own record