The Question Behind the Question
When someone is off work injured, the real question is not "does ACC pay me" but "who is running my payroll". KiwiSaver deductions and the compulsory employer contribution hang off salary or wages, so whether they continue during a period of ACC weekly compensation depends entirely on whether your employer is still the one paying you.
There are two routes, and they give different answers.
Route One: Your Employer Keeps Paying You
Some New Zealand employers take part in the ACC partnership programme, which lets accredited employers manage their own workplace injury claims. Others hold an ACC employer reimbursement agreement. In both cases the employer keeps paying the employee after an accident and continues deducting KiwiSaver contributions from those payments.
While the employer is paying and deducting:
- The employee's contribution continues to be deducted from the payments.
- The employee can stop the deductions by giving a valid savings suspension notice — this is the employee's choice, not the employer's.
- If the employee continues the deductions, the employer can choose to continue making employer contributions. That is optional, but it is a common arrangement because it keeps the employee's account compounding while they are off work.
In effect this route behaves like paid leave: the payroll continues, and the KiwiSaver treatment continues with it.
Route Two: ACC Pays You Directly
Where ACC pays weekly compensation straight to the employee, the employer's obligations change. The employer can stop:
- deducting employee KiwiSaver contributions, and
- paying employer contributions.
This is the more common situation, and it is the one that catches people out. Weeks can turn into months, and during that time nothing is going into the account unless you arrange it yourself.
One thing that does not change: ACC weekly compensation is taxable income, and it is taxed through the PAYE system using the ACC-related tax code. So even though KiwiSaver deductions have stopped, the payment is still part of your income for the year — which matters when you work out your prescribed investor rate and your end-of-year assessment.
Side by Side
| Item | Employer pays you (partnership / reimbursement) | ACC pays you directly |
|---|---|---|
| Employee KiwiSaver deduction | Continues, unless you file a savings suspension | Can stop |
| Compulsory employer contribution | Continues while deductions continue, and the employer may keep contributing even if you suspend | Can stop |
| Your KiwiSaver membership | Unaffected | Unaffected |
| Your account staying invested | Yes | Yes |
| Your voluntary contributions | Allowed at any time | Allowed at any time |
| Government contribution | Earned on your own contributions | Earned only on what you contribute yourself |
Protecting the Government Contribution
The $260.72 government contribution is not tied to employment. It is tied to your personal contributions: 25 cents for every dollar you put in, with the maximum reached at $1,042.86 of your own contributions in the contribution year, which runs 1 July to 30 June. You must be 16 or over and have taxable income of $180,000 or less.
So a period on ACC with no deductions means no match for that period — unless you make contributions yourself. You can contribute directly to your provider at any time, and you can choose the amount. A single payment that brings your year's total to $1,042.86 before 30 June captures the full $260.72. Doing that in May, once you know what your income has actually been, is the cleanest way to handle an unexpected period off work.
The Savings Suspension Option
If you are still being paid and deducted while recovering, and money is tight — which is common when ACC pays 80% of your usual earnings, or less once tax is accounted for — a savings suspension is the formal way to stop contributions. You can take one for a period of 3 months to a year, and no reason is required once you have been a contributing member for 12 months or more. An early request inside the first 12 months requires evidence of financial hardship.
Two things worth weighing before you use it:
- A suspension lets the employer's contribution stop too, so you lose the free money as well as your own deduction.
- A temporary rate reduction to 3% may be the better option where it is available, because the employer contribution continues.
The full comparison is in KiwiSaver Savings Suspension.
If You Are Injured and Not Employed
Self-employed people are in a different position entirely: there is no employer to deduct or contribute, so the only thing that moves your KiwiSaver during a period off work is a voluntary contribution you make yourself. The same $1,042.86 threshold and the same 25% match apply. See KiwiSaver for Self-Employed for how to set that up.
What To Do When You Go On ACC
- Ask payroll which arrangement applies — partnership programme, reimbursement agreement, or ACC paying you directly.
- If deductions will continue, check your first payment to confirm they are being taken at the right rate.
- If deductions will stop, decide before the next contribution year deadline whether you will top up.
- Check your PIR. A drop in income can lower the rate that should apply to your fund's returns, and PAYE on ACC payments changes your taxable income for the year.
- If you want to suspend contributions while you are still being paid, apply in myIR rather than assuming deductions will stop.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming deductions follow you onto ACC automatically. When ACC pays directly, they stop.
- Assuming the employer will keep contributing. Voluntary employer contributions are optional — ask.
- Forgetting the contribution year. It ends 30 June whether or not you were working.
- Stopping contributions with a suspension when a rate reduction would have protected the employer match.
- Overlooking ACC income in your tax position. ACC weekly compensation is taxable and counts towards your annual income.