Hospitality Fair Pay Agreement

Update: the latest on Hospitality Fair Pay

Latest update: 15 September 2023

Unite Union have advised they have arranged worker consultation meeting around the country throughout September and October. If your business is covered by the proposed Hospitality Fair Pay Agreement, you must allow your employees to attend and pay them if the meeting is during their normal work hours. See the meeting times and locations here.

Read more about your obligations as an employer under the Fair Pay Agreement Act in our FAQs here.

On 29 May 2023, MBIE approved the Union’s application to initiate Fair Pay Agreement bargaining for the hospitality industry. The proposed FPA is an industry-based agreement and covers only the occupations within the industry as described below.

Industry Coverage:

The industry covered by the proposed FPA is the entire Hospitality Industry. The Hospitality Industry includes accommodation, cafes, restaurants, takeaway food services, pubs, taverns, bars, clubs, event catering companies, casino operations and motion picture exhibitions. It also includes labour supply services providing employees working at these establishments.

Some organisations will not be covered because their main activity is not included in the classifications. Employees who may undertake hospitality duties but come under a different industry classification will not be covered. For more detailed information about the proposed coverage of the hospitality agreement, you can see the application notice published by MBIE here

Employer Responsibilities

If you are a hospitality business owner, you should have by now sent your employee contact details (unless they have opted out) to Unite Union.

Required Actions

Action 1:
Ensure all your employees (union and non-union members) have received the following information

· Union Letter
· FPA Information and employee contact details sheet

Note: employees can choose to not have their details shared with the Union. They can do this by completing the ‘opt-out’ portion of the form and returning it to you. It is important to note that this will not exempt them from the FPA once it is in place. Any employees who do not choose to opt-out should have their details sent to the Union.

Action 2:
Send all employee details to the Union: All employees who haven’t opted out should have had their details sent to the Union between July 11th and 20th 2023, as required by the Act.

You can read more about your obligations as an employer during the FPA process in our FAQ here.