Negotiating more than salary: extra leave, a sign-on bonus, training and a review date
When an employer cannot move further on salary, you can often still negotiate the rest of the offer: an extra week of annual leave, a sign-on payment, a training budget, flexible hours, or a pay review six months in. Value each one in dollars so you know what you are trading, and get every agreed item written into your employment agreement before you sign.
What employers can move on when the band cannot
Salary is often the hardest part of an offer to change. It may be tied to a band, to what others in the team earn, or to a budget set before the role was advertised. Other parts of the package often come from different budgets, or cost the employer less than they are worth to you. Common items include:
- An extra week of annual leave, or a few wellbeing days.
- A one-off sign-on payment.
- A training budget, a course or professional membership fees.
- Flexible hours, working from home, or a four-day arrangement.
- An earlier pay review, written into the offer.
- A later or earlier start date, or help with relocation costs.
Pick the one or two that matter most to you and ask for those, rather than a long list. Our guide to salary negotiation in New Zealand covers how to open the conversation.
A fifth week of leave, valued in dollars
By law, employees are entitled to four weeks of annual holidays after 12 months, and an employer can agree to give more, which should be recorded in the employment agreement. A fifth week is worth roughly one week's pay, about 1.9% of salary.
On $80,000, a week's pay is about $1,538 before tax, or about $1,145 after PAYE, ACC at 1.75% and KiwiSaver at 3.5%, at 2026/27 rates on tax code M with no student loan. An employer who cannot find $1,500 more in salary may still agree to the extra week, because the cost looks different to them. These leave rules apply until 6 August 2028, when the Employment Leave Act 2026 replaces the Holidays Act.
Sign-on and retention bonuses, and their tax
A sign-on payment is a one-off amount for accepting the offer, often used to make up for a bonus you give up by leaving, or to bridge a salary gap in the first year. A retention bonus is paid for staying a set period.
Both are taxed as extra pay. Inland Revenue's method is for the employer to add the bonus to your last four weeks' pay multiplied by 13, and use that total to set the rate, which can be higher than the rate on your regular pay. A sign-on paid in your first pay may be taxed at a lower rate, because there is little pay yet in the last four weeks, and any difference is squared up after 31 March. KiwiSaver is usually deducted from it too, and student loan repayments apply. So a $5,000 sign-on payment will arrive as noticeably less than $5,000.
Check whether it has to be repaid if you leave within a set time, and how much. Repayment clauses are common. Check that the amount reduces over time, and that any deduction from your final pay needs your written consent; a general deduction clause counts, but your employer must still talk to you before using it, and the amount must be reasonable.
A six-month pay review written into the agreement
If the employer cannot pay what you are asking now, ask for a pay review after six months, with the criteria agreed in advance: what you need to have delivered, and what the salary would move to if you have. Ask for both to be written into the offer letter.
Put the date in your calendar, keep a note of what you deliver in the meantime, and raise it a few weeks before it is due. The Negotiation Coach, part of On the Move, writes the words for the call, the email after it and what to ask for if they say no, including an earlier review in writing or an extra week of leave.
Getting it in the agreement, not the email
Whatever you agree, make sure it appears in the written employment agreement or a signed variation to it, not only in an email or a conversation. An email can be hard to rely on later, especially if the manager who sent it has moved on.
Before you sign, check that the leave, any sign-on payment and its conditions, the review date and any flexibility are all there, in the words you agreed. Our guide to job offers and employment agreements explains what to look for. In jobtracker.co.nz, each offer can carry its whole package, from extra leave to a one-off sign-on payment, each valued in dollars, so you can see what the agreed items add to the salary.
Ask for the package, not only the number
Every jobtracker.co.nz account keeps each offer with its whole package, from extra leave to a sign-on payment, valued in dollars, and On the Move adds the Negotiation Coach to write the words for the ask; 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.