Negotiating your start date with a new employer
Negotiate your start date by working back from the notice period in your current employment agreement, adding any break you want, then proposing that date when you accept the offer. Most employers expect you to work your notice. Ask for extra time early, with a reason, and get the agreed date in writing before you resign.
Work back from your notice period
Your notice period is the fixed point, so start there. Your employment agreement usually sets it, and that is the notice you must give. If it says nothing, you must give reasonable notice, which Employment New Zealand says is generally two to four weeks.
Notice runs from the day you give it, and you should only give it once the new offer is signed. So the earliest realistic start date is:
- the day you expect to sign the new agreement, plus a day or two to resign properly;
- plus your full notice period;
- plus any break you want before you start.
Leave can change your last day at work, but not usually the end of your employment. If your employer agrees, you can take annual holidays at the end of your notice: your last day at work comes earlier, and you are still paid to the end of the notice period. Check your agreement first, because some say leave does not count towards notice, which would push the end of your employment later. Our article on how to resign in New Zealand covers giving notice and what your final pay must include.
Asking for a later start, and how to word it
Most hiring managers expect to wait for notice, and a candidate who leaves their current employer properly is showing them how they would leave too. Asking for a date a week or two beyond that is usually fine, if you ask early and give a reason. Propose a specific date rather than asking what they would like.
The offer to meet the team or read in advance costs you little and answers their unspoken worry: that the work will pile up while they wait for you. If they have a real reason to need you sooner, this is when you will hear it.
A break between jobs: what it costs and why it is worth it
An unpaid break costs roughly the take-home pay you would have had for that time. At 2026/27 rates, with ACC at 1.75%, KiwiSaver at 3.5% and no student loan:
| Salary | One week | Two weeks |
|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | $897 | $1,793 |
| $80,000 | $1,145 | $2,289 |
| $100,000 | $1,382 | $2,764 |
Your final pay softens this. It must include the annual holidays you are owed, so leave you have not taken arrives as money you can use to cover the gap.
The case for the break is the year ahead. At a new employer, four weeks' paid annual holidays come after twelve months, and sick leave after six months. You can take holidays in advance only if your new employer agrees. A week or two between jobs may be the only real rest you get for a year, taken while nobody is waiting on you.
When they push for sooner
If the new employer asks you to start earlier than your notice allows, do not simply walk out on your current job. If you leave without working your notice, your employer only has to pay you for the days you worked and any leave it approved. If you agree in writing, or your agreement has a valid deduction clause, it can also deduct its actual loss from your pay.
You have three honest options. Ask your current employer whether they will agree to a shorter notice period, and if they do, get it in writing. Offer the new employer a date between the two. Or explain why the notice matters:
Most employers respect this. If one will withdraw an offer because you will not break your notice, that tells you something about how they will treat your time once you work there.
Putting the date in writing
Once you agree a date, make sure it appears in the offer letter or employment agreement, or at least in an email from the employer confirming it. For an individual agreement, the Employment Relations Act 2000 requires the employer to give you a copy of the intended agreement and a reasonable opportunity to get independent advice on it, so ask for the agreement before you resign, not on your first day. Our guide to job offers and employment agreements explains what to check before you sign.
Once you have accepted, the Employment Relations Act counts you as an employee even before your first day: it calls you a person intending to work. With On the Move, the email confirming your start date, saved as a PDF, can be kept in Documents and attached to the job it belongs to.
Then record the date where you will see it. The demo opens with no account and shows what happens when a job is marked accepted: Your Career starts a record of the new job, with its start date, its notice period and the date of your first pay review.
Keep the offer, the date and the job you are leaving together
On the Move keeps the offer, your start date and the job you are leaving in one place, and when you mark the new job accepted, Your Career offers to start its record from the offer; create an account and choose On the Move, and the first 7 days are free, with nothing charged if you cancel before then. If you would rather look around first, the demo opens a full job hunt with no account.
Create your accountA card is needed to start the trial, and there is one free trial per person and per card.
Sources
- Employment New Zealand: notice periods.
- Employment New Zealand: final pay.
- Employment New Zealand: taking annual holidays.
- Employment New Zealand: taking sick leave.
- Employment New Zealand: understanding types of workers.
- Employment Relations Act 2000, s 63A (version as at 10 July 2026).
- Take-home figures at the 2026/27 tax rates, as set out on Inland Revenue's tax rates for individuals page.