Proof of employment in New Zealand: certificates of service, employer letters and what to use instead

What a certificate of service says

The same document goes by several names: a certificate of service, a certificate of employment, a statement of service or a confirmation of employment letter. Whatever it is called, it is a short, factual letter from your employer confirming that you work there, or did. It is not a reference: it says what your job was, not how well you did it.

A useful one covers:

• You and the employer: your full name, and the employer's legal name, address and phone number.
• Each role and its dates: every job title you held, with the start and end date of each, or a line saying you are still employed.
• Your hours: full time or part time, and your average hours a week.
• Where and what: the location you worked at and a few lines on your main duties.
• Pay, if it is needed: your salary or hourly rate, but only when the person asking needs it.
• Who signed it: on the employer's letterhead, dated, and signed by someone with authority to confirm it, with their contact details.

Immigration New Zealand sets a floor for visa use. For an Accredited Employer Work Visa it says an employment certificate should be on the employer's official letterhead, be complete and be independently verifiable, and show at least the positions you held, the periods of your employment and your employer's address and contact details. It also asks for evidence of the hours you worked. Before you ask your employer, find out exactly what the person or agency wants, so the letter is written once.

Does your employer have to give you one?

As far as we can find, no. The Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Holidays Act 2003 say nothing about a certificate of service or a reference, and Employment New Zealand's guidance on the records employers must keep does not mention one either. Asking costs nothing, and a short factual letter is quick to write, but if your employer says no, the law as it stands does not make them.

What the law does give you covers most of the same facts:

• Your employment agreement. Under section 64(3) of the Employment Relations Act, your employer must give you a copy of your individual employment agreement, or your current terms and conditions, as soon as is reasonably practicable after you ask.
• Your wages and time record. Section 130 requires a record of the kind of work you are usually employed on, the hours you work each day and the wages paid each pay period. On request your employer must give you access to it, a copy or an extract immediately, for any time in the last six years.
• Your holiday and leave record. Under section 81 of the Holidays Act, this record must show the date your employment started and, once you have left, the date it ended. Section 82 lets you ask for a copy or a certified extract, which your employer must provide as soon as practicable.

That certified extract is the nearest thing to a certificate of service the law guarantees: your employer confirming your start date, and your end date if you have left, from their own records. Employment New Zealand says these records must be kept for six years, even after you leave, and that you have the right to see what is on your file. Our letter template for your agreement and records asks for all three, citing the sections, and our guide to employment rights in New Zealand covers the rest of what every employee is owed. If records are refused, Employment New Zealand on 0800 20 90 20 can help.

What Immigration New Zealand and others accept instead

A letter on its own is often not enough, and for some purposes it is not accepted at all. Immigration New Zealand's rules differ by visa, and are worth reading closely before you collect anything.

• Accredited Employer Work Visa. Work experience evidence must come from someone other than you. It can include certificates of employment, payslips, tax certificates, and reference letters from a former employer if those are backed by one of the others. A CV is not enough, and Immigration New Zealand warns that a reference letter or certificate of employment with no payslips or tax certificates behind it may not satisfy it.
• Skilled Migrant Category. For work experience in New Zealand, it asks for an employment agreement and job description showing your name, occupation, employer, hours and pay rate for each job, plus an Inland Revenue summary of earnings covering every period you claim, up to the date you apply, with monthly breakdowns. It states plainly that certificates of service cannot be used as evidence of New Zealand work experience. A certificate of service can stand in for overseas work only when you cannot provide tax records.
• Lifting section 49 conditions. A letter from your employer on letterhead confirming your position, plus two recent payslips and a recent bank statement, or a summary of earnings from Inland Revenue.

Immigration New Zealand may also ask for bank statements or payslips showing your salary going in. Payslips themselves are not required by law unless your employment agreement provides for them, Employment New Zealand says, so if you have none, the wages and time record is the substitute to ask for.

Landlords, lenders and registration bodies set their own lists, but they draw on the same few documents: a letter, recent payslips, a bank statement showing pay going in, and an Inland Revenue record. A referee who managed you can confirm the rest by phone. Our guide to references and referees covers choosing and briefing one.

Your Inland Revenue record goes back to 1 April 2015

The one record no employer controls is Inland Revenue's. In myIR, your income summary can show any period from 1 April 2015 onwards, and its breakdown lists the gross amount, deductions and totals for each payer in each period reported. That makes it useful proof for any job since then, including one with an employer that has since closed or stopped answering.

There are two printable versions, and they are not the same:

• Proof of income totals your income by type, such as salary and wages, for the dates you choose. It does not split the total by employer, so it shows you earned, but not who from.
• Income details breaks your income down by employer and by month, with the tax deducted. For proving a particular job, this is the one to print.

In myIR, choose the summary type under My income, set the dates, and print. If you do not use myIR, Inland Revenue says you can contact it to request a summary of income instead.

An Inland Revenue record proves you were paid by an employer in each month. It does not show your job title, your hours or your duties, which is why Immigration New Zealand pairs it with an employment agreement or job description. Treat it as the backbone and the employer's documents as the detail.

Keep your own record as you go

Proof is easiest to gather while you are still in the job and your manager still answers emails. Years later, the person who knew you may have gone, and the business may have changed hands. A few minutes now saves a scramble later:

• Keep the documents: your signed employment agreement and any variation, your offer letter, your job description, and a payslip from each year, or every one if you can.
• Write down the facts: the employer's legal name and address, your title and the date of each change, your hours, and your manager's name and contact details.
• Ask before you leave: request a certificate of service in your last week, while the people who can sign it are still there, and keep a copy of your final payslip.

Your Career at jobtracker.co.nz keeps that record for the job you are in: the employer, your title and start date, every change to your pay with its date and hours, your notice period and your manager, who can be made a referee in one tap. When the job ends, you record the date and the reason, and it stays under the jobs you have held, so the next request starts from facts you wrote down at the time rather than from memory.

Your work history, ready when someone asks