Good faith in New Zealand employment

What the duty asks of both sides

Section 4 says the parties to an employment relationship must deal with each other in good faith, and must not do anything, directly or indirectly, that misleads or deceives the other, or is likely to. The Act says the duty is wider than the implied mutual obligations of trust and confidence. It requires both sides to be active and constructive in building and keeping a productive working relationship, in which they are responsive and communicative.

It runs both ways, and it covers most of working life: bargaining for your agreement and any change to it, anything that arises under it, consultation about changes to the business, proposals that might affect staff, and redundancy. The Act lists these as examples, not the limit.

Employment New Zealand puts it in everyday terms: be honest and open, with no hidden motives; raise and respond to issues in a fair and timely way; share relevant information as soon as possible; keep an open mind; and treat each other with respect.

Information and a chance to comment

The part that matters most when jobs are at risk is section 4(1A)(c). An employer who is proposing a decision that will, or is likely to, affect whether you keep your job must give you access to information about that decision that is relevant to whether your job continues, and a chance to comment on it, before the decision is made.

There are limits. Your employer does not have to show you confidential information about another identifiable person where that would be an unwarranted disclosure, information the law requires to be kept confidential, or information kept confidential for another good reason, such as protecting its commercial position. But it cannot withhold relevant information just because it sits in a document that also holds confidential material.

In a restructure, Employment New Zealand's steps mean your employer shares a proposal explaining what is changing and why, and any selection criteria, and gives you a reasonable time to give feedback before anything is final. Our guide to redundancy in New Zealand covers the process step by step.

Two groups do not get this part of the duty when their employer decides whether to dismiss them: employees on a valid 90-day trial, and, since 21 February 2026, employees paid $200,000 or more a year, unless they and their employer have agreed in writing to opt back in. People already in their role on 21 February 2026 keep it through a transition that ends on 21 February 2027, while they stay in that role or one they moved to in a restructure. Every other part of good faith still applies to both groups.

Good faith in everyday work

Most of good faith is ordinary. Employment New Zealand's examples include:

• if a new employee asks what part of their agreement means, the employer should explain it straight away;
• if someone seems to resign in the heat of an argument, the employer should not assume they have, but let them calm down and ask what they want to do;
• an employee seen at a sporting event while on sick leave should offer an honest explanation;
• an employee who thinks ethical standards are being breached cannot stay silent, resign, and then claim they were constructively dismissed.

It fills gaps the law leaves open, too. The law says nothing about proof of a bereavement for bereavement leave, so an employer cannot make proof a condition, and Employment New Zealand says good faith governs any request for it.

When good faith is breached

Either side can apply to the Employment Relations Authority. A penalty is available if the failure was deliberate, serious and sustained, or was meant to undermine bargaining, an agreement or the employment relationship. An unfair process can also be part of a personal grievance: the test for a justified dismissal or action asks what a fair and reasonable employer could have done, including whether it raised its concerns with you and gave you a reasonable chance to respond. Since 21 February 2026, though, flaws in the process alone do not make a dismissal unjustified if they did not result in you being treated unfairly; before then, that was true only of minor flaws. Our guide to employment rights in New Zealand covers what to do next, and Employment New Zealand is on 0800 20 90 20.

Good faith is easier to point to with a record. Your Career in jobtracker.co.nz keeps 1:1 notes with the date, the person you met, what was agreed and any feedback given, in your own account rather than on work systems. You can see two example 1:1 notes with a manager in the demo, which needs no account.

Keep your own record of what was said