As from April 1st 2026 the minimum rate was raised from 3% to 3.5% for both employer and employee contributions to KiwiSaver.
It is a prudent idea to inform staff of this change as it will affect their take-home pay, and they may not realise this already.
Employees do have the option to apply for a temporary rate reduction through myIR (
https://myir.ird.govt.nz/) to keep the contributions at 3%. If they choose to do this, the employer contribution can also reduce to 3%. This can only be done for 12 months whereafter it will automatically increase to 3.5%.
We have added a suggested memorandum to staff document for your use if you wish to do this.
Under the Dashboard, go to Library, then click the 'KiwiSaver increase April 2026' document to download it.
Alternatively click the link below to go there now:
https://toolbox.employerstoolbox.co.nz/ref.aspx?t=2&id=1135