What it does to four different businesses
The same rule, four shapes. If one number were the answer there would be no need for any of this.
| Business | A year | Worked out from |
|---|---|---|
| Hospitality, 24 staffcasual-heavy — where the leave rules bite | $6,469 to $30,619 | 9 staff on or near $23.95 an hour is about $431,250 of wages at the bottom of the scale. A 1.9% to 6.5% increase is $8,194 to $28,031. |
| Trades, 18 staff and a fleetovertime and vans | $1,494 to $7,074 | 2 staff on or near $23.95 an hour is about $99,632 of wages at the bottom of the scale. A 1.9% to 6.5% increase is $1,893 to $6,476. |
| Aged care, 60 stafflong shifts — some of it comes back | $13,450 to $63,665 | 18 staff on or near $23.95 an hour is about $896,688 of wages at the bottom of the scale. A 1.9% to 6.5% increase is $17,037 to $58,285. |
| Professional services, 15salaried — most of this misses you | $0 | Nobody within a dollar of the minimum wage, so an April increase passes you by — until it catches up with the bottom of your scale. |
What you can do about it
Relativity is the hidden half. Lifting the floor compresses everybody just above it, and the people who ask for a raise in May are the ones who were a dollar clear in March.
How much to trust this
date certain, amount not. The date is fixed and the amount is decided each year. The range here is the spread of what has actually been decided in recent years rather than a forecast of the next one.
Source: Employment New Zealand — minimum wage · in the register since 27 Aug 2026 · model last revised 28 Aug 2026
Band changed from a chosen 1.9–6.5% to the actual spread of the last six increases, 1.5% to 7.1%. The base now takes the lower of a full-time year at the minimum and a pro-rata share of the real wage bill, because the full-time assumption overstates it for part-timers and in the industries where this rule bites that is most of them.
Price it against your business
This rule alongside the other 4, on a dated calendar, from nine numbers.