An employer with 19 or fewer employees can use a trial period for up to 90 days, as long as this is agreed in the written employment agreement before the employee starts work. This means both you and your new boss can get to know each other before committing to a long-term working relationship.

During a trial period, you’ll work and get paid as normal and you should be treated the same as any other employee. But if for some reason it doesn’t work out, you or the employer can end the relationship more easily than if you were already a permanent member of staff. You can find out more about how trial periods work on the employment.govt.nz website.