My job might be going (restructure proposal)
Nothing is decided yet. Use the consultation period.
What’s happening to you?
Pick the closest match. Each one gathers the guides, tools and ready-to-send templates for that situation. Not sure? Get a personal plan or search.
Where are you right now?
I've been told I'm redundant
Notice, pay, compensation and what to check.
- Redundancy rights in New Zealand
- Notice period, garden leave and pay in lieu: what you're owed
- Redundancy pay in NZ: is there a payout, and how do you negotiate one?
- How redundancy pay and final pay are taxed in NZ
- Settlement agreements and mediation: how to negotiate an exit deal
- Your last day after redundancy: a checklist (property, pay, references, your data)
It's my last week or day
Final pay, paperwork, references and your first calls.
I've just lost my job (any reason)
A calm first-week plan.
I think it wasn't fair
Deadlines, evidence and free help.
- Personal grievances: the 90-day deadline and how to raise one
- Taking your case to the Employment Relations Authority: process, costs and free help
- Made redundant while pregnant, on parental leave, sick, injured (ACC) or grieving
- Restraint of trade after redundancy: can they stop you working for a competitor?
My employer has gone under
Unpaid wages, liquidators and what you can claim.
Money problems
What payments can I get?
Jobseeker, top-ups, grants and cards.
- What financial help could I be entitled to? A guide by situation
- How to apply for Jobseeker Support after losing your job
- Temporary Additional Support, food grants, advances and recoverable assistance
- Accommodation Supplement: how much you can get for rent, board or a mortgage
- Community Services Card, Winter Energy Payment and cheaper healthcare
I can't pay my bills
Prioritise, negotiate, get hardship support.
Rent or mortgage trouble
Landlords, arrears and lender options.
- Renting after redundancy: arrears, landlord talks and your rights
- How to talk to your bank about hardship and mortgage options
- Bank hardship policies and mortgage help in NZ: what the banks say they offer
- Accommodation Supplement: how much you can get for rent, board or a mortgage
- Social housing, income-related rent and emergency housing in NZ
I got a payout, what now?
Tax, runway, debt and KiwiSaver.
- You've got a redundancy payment: what to do with the money
- How redundancy pay and final pay are taxed in NZ
- KiwiSaver when you're out of work: pause, hardship withdrawal or leave it?
- Using your savings and investments after job loss: what to draw on first
- Financial advisers, investment scams and deposit protection after redundancy
- Stand-down periods: when your first payment arrives
Debt, loans and scams
Avoid the traps when you're stretched.
Getting back to work
I need to find work
A plan, a CV and interviews.
- A week-by-week job search plan (and how to stay motivated)
- How to write a New Zealand CV (length, what to leave out, gaps, redundancy)
- Where to find jobs in NZ: SEEK, Trade Me, Indeed, LinkedIn, government and sector job sites
- The hidden job market: how to find unadvertised jobs and network (with scripts)
- Job interviews in NZ: preparation, STAR answers, panels and video interviews
- 'Why were you made redundant?' How to answer in an interview (with scripts)
I want to retrain or change careers
What's funded, what pays, how to switch.
- Retraining in New Zealand: what is actually funded in 2026
- Changing careers into in-demand jobs in NZ: what the evidence says
- Transferable skills and changing careers after redundancy
- Fees Free is ending: who can still get it?
- Retraining after redundancy: Student Allowance, Jobseeker and study rules
- Apprenticeships in NZ now that ITOs and Te Pūkenga have changed
Tools
Thinking of working for myself
Contracting, sole trader, GST and tax.
- Should you go self-employed after redundancy? An honest checklist
- Sole trader or company? Choosing a business structure in NZ
- Tax, GST, provisional tax, ACC and invoicing for the newly self-employed
- Contractor or employee? The 2026 gateway test, Uber and gig work
- Self-employed and on Jobseeker Support: income, abatement and irregular pay
Work and Income obligations
Traffic lights, sanctions and getting decisions reviewed.
Your circumstances
I'm struggling emotionally
You're not alone. Free help is available now.
I have kids or a partner to support
Payments, childcare and talking to family.
- Working for Families when you lose your job: what changes for your kids' payments
- My partner works: will I still get Jobseeker Support?
- Sole Parent Support, Jobseeker as a solo parent, and how child support interacts
- Childcare Subsidy, OSCAR and school costs when you're out of work
- Job loss, relationship strain and telling the kids
- Money, partners and whānau: talking about it when one of you loses a job
I'm on a visa or I'm a migrant
Visa consequences, entitlements and exploitation.
- Made redundant on an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV): what happens to your visa?
- Changing employer on an AEWV: Job Change step by step
- Lost your job on a partner, post-study, working holiday or seasonal visa?
- On a temporary visa with no income: what help is (and isn't) available?
- Free immigration advice and how to check an adviser is licensed
- Unpaid wages, illegal deductions and 'pay-back' demands: what migrant workers can do
- Stay or leave? Making the decision after job loss on a visa
Kiwi coming home or living in Australia
Benefits, KiwiSaver and tax across the Tasman.
- Coming home to New Zealand with no job: benefits, IRD, KiwiSaver and health
- New Zealanders in Australia: your rights if you lose your job or are thinking of moving
- Residence visa holders: can you get Jobseeker Support? The two-year rule explained
- Leaving New Zealand: KiwiSaver, student loan, ACC and tax
I'm 50 or older
Age bias, super and reskilling.
I'm young (under 25)
Youth support, study and first jobs.
I have a health condition, disability or I'm a carer
Payments and supported employment.
- Job loss with a disability or health condition: your rights and support
- Health condition, injury or disability: Jobseeker Support, Supported Living Payment and Disability Allowance
- Carers: support if you care for someone and have lost work
- Injured and out of work: ACC weekly compensation vs Jobseeker Support
Māori or Pacific peoples support
Kaupapa Māori and Pacific services and pathways.
Other circumstances
Returning to work, record, rainbow, military, English.
- Returning to work after a break: women, parents and carers
- Finding work with a criminal record: Clean Slate and what employers can ask
- Job loss for rainbow and LGBTQIA+ people: rights and support
- Leaving the military: finding work and looking after yourself
- Limited English or reading and writing difficulties: getting help with forms, work and benefits
- Family violence, financial abuse and job loss: getting safe and getting support
Your industry or region
Public sector, health or education
Cuts, redeployment and collective agreements.
- Public service job cuts in NZ: your rights, redeployment and voluntary redundancy
- Union member? Collective agreements, redeployment and public-sector job cuts
- Health NZ, hospital and aged care job losses: what to do if you work in health
- Teacher, university, polytechnic and early childhood job cuts: what to know
Construction, forestry, manufacturing
Industrial and trades job losses.
- Construction slump: what to do if you lose building or trades work
- Subbies and tradies: retention money and what to do when a head contractor fails
- Forestry and wood processing job losses: mill closures, harvesting and what support exists
- Manufacturing, freight, steel and smelter job losses: your options
- Licences, tickets and certificates that help you get hired in NZ
Farming, meat and rural
Seasonal gaps and rural support.
Tech, media, office, retail, hospitality
Sector-specific advice.
- Tech and IT layoffs in NZ: contracting, remote work overseas and visas
- Media, journalism and creative job cuts: redundancy, freelancing and what next
- Banking, finance, professional services, engineering, science and call centres: redundancy and next steps
- Retail, hospitality, tourism and airline job losses: hours cut, closures and your rights
My region
Local job markets and support.
- Auckland: job market, who is hiring and local help after redundancy
- Wellington and the Hutt: public service heartland job market and local help
- Waikato and Bay of Plenty: job market, key employers and local help
- Northland, Hawke's Bay and Gisborne-Tairāwhiti: job market and local help
- Taranaki and Manawatū-Whanganui: job market, energy sector changes and local help
- South Island: Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Nelson-Marlborough and West Coast job market and help
- Moving for work: other regions, remote jobs and working overseas