Blog

I’ve been thinking a lot about uncertainty lately. With an election approaching, close polling and very different political views on the direction of employment relations, there is a very real question for businesses about how far to go in preparing for changes that may themselves change.

Part of my role is helping businesses navigate employment compliance and prepare for legislative change. I am normally a strong advocate for getting ahead of what is coming. What this environment changes isn't the need to prepare, but how decisive we should be about what we do now, what we prepare for, and what we deliberately defer until there is greater certainty.

For business owners, that is an important distinction. Move too quickly and you could invest considerable time, money and energy implementing something that subsequently changes. Wait for absolute certainty and you risk finding yourself trying to do too much, too late.

We know the answer is somewhere in the middle.

The Employment Leave Act 2026 is a good example. It has been passed and is due to replace the Holidays Act from 6 August 2028. Businesses have been given a two-year transition period to understand the changes and prepare their payroll systems, employment agreements, policies and processes. 

The catch is that we now have an election in front of us and very different political positions on employment relations, including the future of the new leave legislation. That creates a reasonable question for employers: how much should we invest in preparing now when the employment landscape could change again after the election?

I don't think the answer is to stop. I think it is to become much more deliberate about where you are in the change process and how far you need to go right now.

A five-step approach to change

We developed a five-step methodology at Unlimit for preparing businesses for the Employment Leave Act 2026: Get Informed, Review, Consult, Prepare and Implement. 

We built it for the legislation, but its real value is broader. It is a disciplined framework for managing any significant change, because it separates understanding a change from committing to it.

1. Get Informed means understanding what is actually changing rather than reacting to headlines or assumptions.

2. Review means understanding your current position, your business baseline. 

3. Consult is about communication. Identify who will be affected, what they need to understand and when you need to engage with them. 

4. Prepare is where the groundwork happens. Clean the data, review the documentation, identify system requirements, establish responsibilities and develop the implementation plan.

5. And only then do you Implement. That is when you change documentation, remediate issues, transition systems, test the outcome and support people through the change. 

That distinction is particularly useful right now. You don't have to be ready to implement to be ready to move forward.

That allows businesses to pivot without having stood still.

So, what does this mean for me as a business owner?

Don't allow uncertainty around employment legislation to put your wider people planning on hold. Regardless of where the election lands, there is plenty you can do now that will put the business in a stronger position.

Start with your business strategy. Do you have the people strategy to actually deliver it? If you are planning to grow, change services, introduce new technology, increase productivity or simply operate differently next year, do you have the capability, capacity and roles required to make that happen?

Think about succession as well. Who are the key people you rely on? Who might retire, reduce their hours or move into different roles next year? Where does critical knowledge sit with one person? Succession planning isn't necessarily about naming a replacement. It is about developing capability, transferring knowledge and reducing dependency before it becomes urgent.

And then there is the much more immediate topic of Christmas. Workforce planning for December and January should already be underway. Who is taking extended leave and where will the gaps be? Who will cover essential roles? Have Christmas closedown arrangements been worked through? What will public holidays and reduced staffing mean for payroll processing, customer deadlines and operational coverage?

There is also value in taking a clear-eyed view of your overall people position. Look at your people strategy, capability, succession risks, employment agreements, policies, payroll practices, records and compliance. Understand what is working well, where the gaps are and what is likely to need attention over the next 12 to 24 months.

That work is valuable regardless of who forms the next Government. Employment legislation may change, but compliance will still be required. Businesses will still need to recruit, pay, develop, retain and plan for their people. 

Having a clear people strategy and understanding your workforce capability makes a business better able to respond to whatever employment landscape comes next.

More importantly, it makes the business better today. Good people planning means fewer decisions are made because someone has resigned, a payroll problem has surfaced, a key person is suddenly unavailable, or a legislative deadline is approaching. It shifts the business from reacting to people challenges to creating opportunities.

Where do you start?

If the election and changing employment landscape have left you wondering what you should be doing now and what can sensibly wait, the Unlimit People Strategy and Capability team can help.

We can work with you to review your current people and compliance position, align your people strategy with where the business is heading, identify workforce and capability risks, plan for succession, review payroll and employment compliance, and work out which preparations make sense now and which decisions should be deferred.

The goal isn't to try to predict every change that might come next. It is to make sure your business is informed, prepared and adaptable enough to respond when it does.

People Strategy and Capability lead Tracey Bryant

021493665 or email tracey.bryant@unlimit.co.nz