KiwiSaver When You Change Jobs

What Changes and What Does Not

Changing jobs does not change your KiwiSaver account. Your scheme, your fund, your provider, your balance and your membership all stay exactly as they were. Nothing is transferred between employers, and there is no gap in membership while you are between jobs. What changes is who does the paperwork: your new employer becomes responsible for deducting your contributions from your pay and paying the compulsory employer contribution on top.

This is different from Australia, where a new job normally means a new default fund unless you nominate yours. In New Zealand the account is yours and it follows you. If you move to a higher-paying job, the same percentage produces a bigger contribution — it is the rate, not the dollar amount, that carries over.

What Your New Employer Has To Do

• If you are not already a member: the employer must give you a KiwiSaver information pack within 7 days of your start date and automatically enrol you if you are eligible.
• If you are already a member: the employer must start deducting contributions from your pay.
• Employer contribution: at least 3.5% of your gross pay from 1 April 2026, with ESCT paid on top of that by the employer.
• Payday filing: the contributions and the employer contribution are reported to Inland Revenue each payday and forwarded to your provider.

If your employer also runs their own superannuation scheme, you normally get a choice between staying in your KiwiSaver scheme and joining theirs. Ask for the product disclosure statement before deciding, because the fees and the fund options are unlikely to be identical.

The KS2 — KiwiSaver Deduction Form

The KS2 is the form your new employer will ask you to complete. It is your instruction to payroll, and it stays with your employment records — it is not sent to Inland Revenue. Use it to tell your employer:

• which rate to deduct: 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10% of your gross pay;
• that you have a valid savings suspension notice, or
• that you have a temporary rate reduction to 3% and the confirmation letter from Inland Revenue.

If you do not complete a KS2 and you are a KiwiSaver member, the employer uses the default rate of 3.5%. Inland Revenue recommends giving the form to your new employer and asking them to confirm they have received it, so that deductions start correctly on your first pay rather than on a later one.

Savings Suspensions When You Change Jobs

A savings suspension belongs to you, not to an employer — but the employer has to see it. Show your new employer the notice Inland Revenue issued, or they must deduct contributions and pay employer contributions as normal. If the notice turns up after deductions have already started, Inland Revenue refunds the compulsory employer contributions, and you have to ask Inland Revenue for a refund of the money taken from your pay.

Keep the notice somewhere you can find it. It is also worth asking your new employer whether they intend to keep contributing voluntarily during a suspension — they are allowed to, and ESCT still applies to anything they pay.

Opting Out Only Applies If You Are Newly Enrolled

The opt-out window is narrow and it only exists for people who were automatically enrolled. You can opt out on or after day 14 and on or before day 56 of the new employment — that is, from week 2 to week 8 — using a KS10 opt-out request form. You cannot opt out in the first 13 days, and you must opt out again each time you start new employment and are enrolled again. If you chose to opt into KiwiSaver, you cannot opt out. See Opting Out of KiwiSaver for the full process.

Short-Term, Fixed-Term and Casual Work

A lot of casual and short-term jobs sit outside automatic enrolment. Most temporary employees taken on for 28 continuous days or less are not automatically enrolled, although they can opt in. If the work is extended past 28 days, automatic enrolment applies from the 29th day, and the normal opt-out window then applies. If you are already a KiwiSaver member, you can give the employer a KiwiSaver deduction notice so that deductions and compulsory employer contributions are made from your first pay. The details are in KiwiSaver for Casual and Temporary Workers.

Two Jobs at the Same Time

Each employment is treated separately. Both employers deduct your contribution rate from the pay they give you, and each pays its own compulsory employer contribution on that pay. Two part-time jobs therefore generate two separate sets of contributions and two employer contributions. If you pick up a second job, remember that you also have two tax codes to keep straight — the secondary code is based on your total income, and getting it wrong is the most common cause of an unexpected end-of-year bill.

Changing Your Rate After You Start

You can change your contribution rate by telling your employer in writing or by completing a new KS2. A minimum period of 3 months applies before you can ask for another change, unless your employer agrees to something shorter. The same 3-month minimum applies to starting a savings suspension, restarting contributions, and moving to a temporary rate reduction.

What the Numbers Look Like in a New Job

That last row is the one people miss. Choosing a higher rate increases your contribution and reduces your take-home pay; it does not oblige the employer to match a higher rate.

Checklist for Your First Week in the New Job

1. Work out whether you are already a member, and which rate you want.
2. Complete a KS2 and hand it to payroll — then ask them to confirm they have it.
3. Show a savings suspension notice or a temporary rate reduction letter if you have one.
4. Check your first payslip: confirm the deduction rate and that the employer contribution appears.
5. Update your contact details and bank account in myIR so any refunds and your government contribution land properly.
6. If the job is casual or fixed-term and expected to last 28 days or less, decide whether to opt in.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming deductions restart by themselves. They start when the employer knows your rate — give the KS2 rather than waiting to see it on a payslip.
• Leaving the rate blank. You land on 3.5%, and you cannot lift it again for 3 months without your employer's agreement.
• Filming a suspension notice away in a drawer. If the new employer does not see it, they must deduct.
• Believing a new job resets your membership. Memberships and the 3-year test for a first-home withdrawal are not reset by changing employers.
• Forgetting the second tax code when a new job overlaps with an old one.