What is KiwiSaver?
Legal Requirements
Employers have several obligations under the KiwiSaver Act. Employers must:
- Determine whether new employees are subject to automatic enrolment.
- Provide information packs to new employees aged over 18 years within 7 days of starting work.
- Send Inland Revenue new employee details, such as name, address and IRD number.
- Deduct KiwiSaver contributions, starting from the new employee’s first pay. Contributions must be forwarded to Inland Revenue on a monthly basis.
- Act on any opt out or opt in requests and any contribution holiday notices.
- If they have selected a preferred KiwiSaver provider, give their employees:
- An investment statement from that provider
- A statement advising employees that, if they do not choose their own scheme, they will be allocated to their employer’s chosen KiwiSaver scheme
- make a contribution to all employees who are contributing to KiwiSaver (or a compliant company superannuation fund) of 2% of gross salary or wages:
Practical suggestions
Employers need to be prepared for staff asking for advice on KiwiSaver. Employers should try and avoid providing financial advice, but assist employees to access information on KiwiSaver providers and the options available.
Keep KiwiSaver as simple as you can for your payroll and HR people - and most importantly your staff.
Preferred Provider
If you do wish to select a preferred provider ensure the provider offers a growth option as we think a growth option is likely to be suitable for most employees - as KiwiSaver is a long term savings plan.
If you do select a preferred provider ensure:
- your employees understand they can still select their own provider, and
- you understand the fee structure of the preferred provider and the Trust Deed which covers the operation of the scheme(s).
If you wish to speak with us about making Fisher Funds your preferred KiwiSaver Scheme provider, please contact Michael Raynes on (09) 484 0355 or by email.
Alternatively, you can download our preferred provider agreement, sign two copies keeping one for your records and send the other to us. We will then notify the IRD of your election.
