Employment conditions in NZ
 

Reading through the forum, I've come across a number of negative comments about working conditions in NZ, but they generally seem to be older posts, and not industry specific. I was wondering if people could tell me about their experiences, good and bad, and what they work as? Anyone working as an electronic design engineer or in the electronics industry would be particularly useful, but other occupations would be helpful as it will give a general feel for the country.

Concerns that have been raised reading older posts are:

Salary - I heard salaries are typically equal in numbers, so if you earn £25k in the UK, you'll likely earn $25k in a similar role in NZ

Working hours - nominally it seems to be a 40 hour week, but a number of people have posted comments about being forced / coerced into working much longer hours.

Flexibility - this appears to be better than the UK, but in what way?

Sick pay - this seems to be very limited (only 5 days!)

Doctor/Dentist/Hospital visits - are you entitled to time off for these, or do you have to take it out of your holidays or as unpaid time?

Employment protection - is there anything equivalent to industrial tribunals?

Pension schemes - do employers make a contribution to their employees pensions, or is it up to the employee alone?

Anything else that might be significantly different between UK and NZ?

Re: Employment conditions in NZ
 

I can only comment on my experiences, and people i know direclty of, but I know experiences vary quite a bit I am in transportation engineering and my wife in banking/ finance.

Salary wise you do earn less in NZ, but not as bad as earning $s for £s. Id say you will be looking at twice to 2.5 times what you earn in pounds in dollars (ie £20k would be about $40-50k). It depends on the industry though.

Working week generally 40 hrs, but some places are on 37.5 hrs a week

Leave is generally 20 days. most big companies would give sick leave. you do have to pay for doctors visits, although depending on what medical insurance you have you can claim that back from your insurer.

It used to be that companies didnt offer superannuation as a matter of course, but are now required to make kiwisaver contributions. It is ramping up from 1 - 4 % over the next few years, a 4% company contribution would be considered a good contribution i think.

flexibility depends on the company i suppose, I think there is less of a working from home acceptance in NZ generally.

There are collective agreements with unions, again depends on your industry. Unfair dismissals are dealt with by tribunal type setups, luckily ive never had any first hand experience of such.