Te KiwiSaver mā te kaimahi he āhuatanga motuhake ōna KiwiSaver for employees with special circumstances

KiwiSaver deductions and employer contributions may change depending on your employee’s situation. 

Employees aged 60 years or over

Employees who joined KiwiSaver before 1 July 2019 must be in KiwiSaver for at least 5 years before they can withdraw their savings. This is known as the 5-year lock in period. This period can finish after an employee turns 65.

An employee who joined KiwiSaver before 1 July 2019 must stay in KiwiSaver until the later of:

• The 5-year lock in period.
• They turn 65.

To exit their 5-year lock in period after they turn 65, the employee should contact their provider.

Employees staying in KiwiSaver aged 65 and over

If your employee is in their 5-year lock in period past their 65th birthday and does not choose to exit KiwiSaver, you must carry on:

• deducting KiwiSaver contributions from their pay (unless they’re on a savings suspension)
• paying compulsory employer contributions.

Keep doing this until 1 of the following happens. The employee:

• completes their 5-year lock in period
• exits the lock in period (they can do this anytime after becoming eligible for NZ Super)
• retires.

When any 1 of these 3 things happen, stop compulsory employer contributions.

An employee may continue to have KiwiSaver deducted past the 5-year lock in period.

Employees on accident compensation

If you take part in the ACC partnership programme, or have an ACC employer reimbursement agreement, you continue:

• paying an employee after an accident
• deducting their KiwiSaver contributions from these payments.

Your employee can stop deductions from their pay with a savings suspension notice.

If your employee continues deductions, you can choose to continue making employer contributions.

When ACC pays weekly compensation to your employee, you can stop:

• deductions from their pay
• paying employer contributions.

Suspending KiwiSaver deductions and contributions

Employees on paid parental leave

If you continue to pay your employee while they’re receiving paid parental leave, keep:

• deducting employee contributions
• making employer contributions unless they’re on a savings suspension.

When an employee returns to work re-start deductions and your contributions.

Contributing to KiwiSaver when your employee is on unpaid leave

When an employee goes on unpaid leave, KiwiSaver contributions normally stop. However, employers who do choose to carry on contributing have 2 options.

Include contributions in your employer information- IR348 

If you want to carry on contributing to an employee’s KiwiSaver, include the contribution in your regular employer information – IR348 form. We will send the contributions to the employee’s KiwiSaver provider. 

Note: If the employee is on unpaid leave, show the employee’s gross earnings as zero.

Make a lump sum contribution after the employee’s leave ends 

To make a lump sum contribution, work out the amount the employee would have received in KiwiSaver contributions during their leave and then pay this to us once they return to work. 

Note: You must deduct ESCT from your employer contributions unless they are treated as part of salary/wages.