2026 New Zealand general election: Jobs, wages, training and workers' rights

Policy comparison · 31 October 2026 · New Zealand

The central divide between the parties is how to create jobs and who should benefit from economic growth.

• National and ACT emphasise business growth, reducing employment costs and making it easier for employers to hire.
• Labour emphasises infrastructure investment, apprenticeships, skilled employment, stronger workplace protections and higher pay.
• The Greens put greater emphasis on secure employment, a higher wage floor, publicly supported jobs and stronger collective bargaining.
• NZ First focuses on minimum-wage increases, support for small businesses and keeping employment opportunities in New Zealand.
• Opportunity emphasises innovation, research, technology and investment in future industries.
• Te Pāti Māori brings a Māori-led approach to economic development, employment and skills.

Below is a comparison of the main proposals, distinguishing between announced policies and broader party approaches.

1. Party-by-party comparison

National

Business-led growth

Job creation

• Grow the economy by supporting businesses, investment, exports and productivity.
• Reduce compliance costs and employment-related barriers for small businesses through a 47-point small-business plan.
• Support commercial construction and infrastructure development.
• Help New Zealanders stay or return from overseas to fill skills gaps.

Wages

• No commitment to increase the minimum wage above inflation.
• Emphasises wage growth through productivity and economic growth.
• Supports compulsory KiwiSaver contributions for workers, with additional measures for older workers and parents.

Retraining and skills

• Emphasis on education, practical skills and preparing young people for employment.
• Business-led approach to addressing skills shortages.

Employment rights

• Does not support restoring Fair Pay Agreements.
• Has proposed reducing employment disputes and compliance costs for employers.
• Its approach gives employers more flexibility rather than expanding collective bargaining.

Overall: National argues that stronger businesses and a growing economy are the best route to more jobs and higher wages. The trade-off is less emphasis on strengthening collective worker protections. 2026 Election PolicyOctober AMM Comms: Election 2026 – What the Parties Are Proposing for Employers and Small BusinessesPolicy scorecards for working people NZCTU

Labour

Jobs investment and worker protections

Job creation

• The Start Work Now programme would invest in social housing, school improvements and hospital repairs, creating construction and trades employment.
• Supports nearly 30,000 apprentices into work.
• Guarantees eligible New Zealand-trained graduate nurses jobs in the health system from 2027.
• Supports small businesses through faster government payments and a target of 15% of government contracts going to small businesses and start-ups.

Wages

• Increase the minimum wage in line with inflation.
• Restore pay equity legislation.
• Give approximately 65,000 care and support workers an immediate $4-an-hour pay rise.
• Increase compulsory employer KiwiSaver contributions to 6% by 2032.

Retraining and skills

• Expand Apprenticeship Boost, including:

  • Employer payments extended to two years.
  • A $1,000 toolbox grant for new apprentices.
  • Five additional trades covered from July 2027.

• Invest $21 million annually in Māori-led vocational training.

• Support apprenticeships and training in construction and infrastructure.

Employment rights

• Restore Fair Pay Agreements, allowing industry-wide negotiations over minimum employment conditions.
• Restore pay equity protections.
• Commit to the Living Wage across the public service.
• Strengthen workplace health and safety protections.

Overall: Labour combines government-funded job creation with training investment and stronger employment rights. It is one of the clearest alternatives to the business-first approach of National and ACT. Labour's 2026 Election PoliciesMake a PlanLabour's 2026 Election Policies

Green Party

Higher wages and secure work

Job creation

• Establish a Jobs for Young People pilot, providing jobs through local councils for 16–24-year-olds who have been unemployed for six months.
• Invest in science, research, innovation and technology.
• Support job creation in environmentally sustainable industries.

Wages

• Increase the minimum wage towards the Living Wage.
• Abolish the training wage so apprentices receive proper wages for their work.
• Restore pay equity legislation.
• Support fairer pay and conditions across industries.

Retraining and skills

• Abolish the training wage.
• Provide a $2,000 apprentice equipment grant.
• Increase funding for Māori- and Pasifika-led training by $30 million annually.
• Offer employers a $2,000 completion bonus when apprentices progress through their qualifications.

Employment rights

• Restore Fair Pay Agreements.
• Strengthen collective bargaining and workers' ability to organise.
• Support pay transparency and closing pay gaps.
• Strengthen protections for workers affected by workplace changes and emerging technologies, including AI.

Overall: The Greens have a particularly strong emphasis on improving job quality, lifting the wages of lower-paid workers and ensuring young people can access employment. Election policy tracker: what the parties are promisingMinimum Wage2026 Election Policy Summaries

ACT

Employer flexibility and deregulation

Job creation

• Reduce the cost and risk of employing people.
• Simplify employment law and reduce compliance requirements.
• Encourage small businesses to expand and hire more workers.

Wages

• Freeze the adult minimum wage for three years.
• Introduce a training wage for workers under 20 at 60% of the adult minimum wage.
• Argues wage increases should be more closely linked to productivity.

Retraining and skills

• Supports a more flexible approach to training and employment.
• Proposes lower training wages to encourage employers to take on younger workers.

Employment rights

• Make it easier for employers to terminate employment relationships through a proposed golden-handshake arrangement.
• Reduce the time available to bring certain personal grievances.
• Make union-fee payroll deductions voluntary.
• Opposes restoring Fair Pay Agreements.

Overall: ACT argues that reducing the risks and costs of hiring will encourage businesses to create jobs. Its proposals would, however, reduce some existing protections and bargaining power for employees. Election policy tracker: what the parties are promisingOctober AMM Comms: Election 2026 – What the Parties Are Proposing for Employers and Small Businesses2026 Election Policy SummariesMinimum Wage

New Zealand First

Wage protection and small-business support

Job creation

• Reduce the company tax rate for small and medium-sized businesses to 20%.
• Support domestic businesses and employment.
• Focus on economic independence and employment opportunities for New Zealanders.

Wages

• Increase the minimum wage by at least inflation each year for the next three years.
• Increase Working for Families in-work tax credits, improving take-home income for working families.

Retraining and skills

• Supports practical skills and vocational employment.
• Emphasises employment opportunities for New Zealanders, although its specific retraining commitments are less developed in the available policy summaries.

Employment rights

• Does not support restoring Fair Pay Agreements.
• Has not put forward the same broad collective bargaining expansion as Labour or the Greens.
• Emphasises wage increases and household income support rather than extensive changes to employment rights.

Overall: NZ First combines a commitment to protecting the purchasing power of minimum-wage workers with tax relief for smaller businesses. October AMM Comms: Election 2026 – What the Parties Are Proposing for Employers and Small BusinessesMinimum WagePolicy scorecards for working people NZCTU

The Opportunity Party

Innovation and future industries

Job creation

• Develop high-skill industries, including research, software and high-tech manufacturing.
• Increase research and development investment to at least 2% of GDP.
• Offer tax incentives for technology investment and innovation.
• Help small businesses adopt new digital technologies.

Wages

• No specific minimum-wage increase commitment in its published policy summaries.
• Proposes a Citizen's Income of $19,400 annually, funded through a Land Value Tax.
• Supports ending exemptions that allow disabled workers to be paid below the minimum wage.

Retraining and skills

• Emphasises developing skills for technology-intensive and high-productivity industries.
• Supports research and innovation as a source of future employment.

Employment rights

• Supports restoring pay equity claims.
• Supports ending the minimum-wage exemption for disabled workers.
• Does not support restoring Fair Pay Agreements.

Overall: Opportunity's approach is to transform the types of jobs New Zealand creates, rather than concentrate primarily on conventional minimum-wage and employment-law changes. October AMM Comms: Election 2026 – What the Parties Are Proposing for Employers and Small BusinessesMinimum WagePolicy scorecards for working people NZCTU

Te Pāti Māori

Māori economic self-determination

Job creation

• Support Māori-owned businesses, enterprises and economic development.
• Promote Māori economic self-determination and greater Māori ownership of productive assets.
• Support community-led economic development.

Wages

• Support increasing the minimum wage to the Living Wage.
• Support restoring pay equity legislation.
• Support ending the minimum-wage exemption for disabled workers.

Retraining and skills

• Emphasise Māori-led education and vocational development.
• Support Māori communities having greater control over skills development and employment pathways.
• Support investment in Māori economic development.

Employment rights

• Support restoring Fair Pay Agreements.
• Support stronger pay equity protections.
• Support the Living Wage across government employment and contracting.

Overall: Te Pāti Māori places particular importance on Māori ownership, economic independence, fair wages and addressing structural employment inequalities. October AMM Comms: Election 2026 – What the Parties Are Proposing for Employers and Small BusinessesParty policies, simplified: EmploymentPolicy scorecards for working people NZCTU

2. Quick comparison: where the parties stand

The following table highlights the biggest differences.

Party	Minimum wage	Apprenticeships / training	Fair Pay Agreements
National	No clear above-inflation commitment	Skills and business-led training	Opposes restoration
Labour	Inflation-linked increases	Expanded funding and support	Restore
Greens	Move towards Living Wage	Abolish training wage; grants	Restore
ACT	Freeze for 3 years	Lower training wage	Opposes restoration
NZ First	At least inflation increases	Practical skills focus	Opposes restoration
Opportunity	No specific increase policy	High-tech skills and innovation	Opposes restoration
Te Pāti Māori	Move towards Living Wage	Māori-led training	Restore

Policy scorecards for working people NZCTUMinimum Wage2026 Election Policy Summaries

3. What matters most for workers?

There are four particularly important differences.

1. Who benefits from economic growth?

• National and ACT expect business growth and productivity to create employment and improve wages.
• Labour wants government investment to create jobs directly, alongside private-sector growth.
• The Greens favour more direct government involvement in creating employment and improving working conditions.
• Opportunity wants to create higher-productivity industries.
• NZ First emphasises domestic businesses and household purchasing power.
• Te Pāti Māori prioritises Māori ownership and economic self-determination.

2. Will wages keep up with living costs?

• Labour and NZ First commit to minimum-wage increases linked to inflation.
• The Greens and Te Pāti Māori want to move towards the Living Wage.
• ACT proposes a three-year minimum-wage freeze.
• National has not made an equivalent clear above-inflation commitment.
• Opportunity's Citizen's Income is a different approach to improving financial security.

3. Will young people have better access to employment?

• Labour has substantial apprenticeship funding and a graduate nurse job guarantee.
• The Greens propose council-supported jobs for unemployed young people and better apprentice pay.
• National focuses on skills and business-led employment.
• ACT wants lower training wages to encourage employers to hire younger workers.

4. Will workers have stronger rights?

This is arguably the sharpest dividing line.

• Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori support restoring Fair Pay Agreements.
• National and ACT oppose restoring them.
• NZ First also opposes restoration.
• Opportunity does not support restoring them.

Fair Pay Agreements are important because they allow employers and unions to negotiate minimum pay and conditions across entire industries, rather than leaving workers to negotiate individually.

Policy scorecards for working people NZCTU2026 Election Policy Summaries

4. Where to find the original policies

For checking the details before voting, these are useful resources:

• Labour – 2026 election policies
• National – 2026 election policies
• NZ Council of Trade Unions – Working people policy scorecards
• Retail NZ – Minimum wage policy comparison
• The Conversation – 2026 election policy tracker
• Employment lawyers' comparison of party policies (28 October 2026)

5. Overall assessment

If your main concern is getting more people into jobs, Labour has a particularly detailed programme of direct employment and apprenticeship investment. National and ACT focus more on making it easier for businesses to hire.

If your main concern is higher wages, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori have the strongest Living Wage ambitions, while Labour and NZ First have explicit inflation-linked minimum-wage commitments.

If your main concern is retraining and career opportunities, Labour has particularly concrete apprenticeship proposals, while Opportunity focuses on the development of future industries and the Greens on accessible training.

If your main concern is employment rights, fair pay and job security, Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori offer the strongest commitments to restoring collective bargaining and pay equity protections.

One important qualification: These are election promises, not enacted changes. Coalition negotiations, funding decisions and legislation will determine what actually happens after the election. The general election is scheduled for 7 November 2026.