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Working for Accommodation & Food in New Zealand: What are Your Rights?

© NZPocketGuide.com

Is Your Work for Food and Accommodation in New Zealand a Fair Deal?

Save money, experience the Kiwi life, improve your English and get some hands-on experience: working for food and accommodation in New Zealand has many awesome benefits for backpackers! While working for accommodation and food is extremely popular in New Zealand, like everywhere, there are a few people who take advantage of the situations. When you’re getting into a work for accommodation and food deal, you should be rewarded fairly for the number of hours you work. To avoid dodgy work for accommodation listings, take a look at the guide below to what are your rights when working for food and accommodation in New Zealand! That way, you’ll ensure a secure, safer and fairer work for accommodation and food experience!

Take a look at our job listings for work for accommodation and food opportunities in New Zealand!

A Quick Introduction to Working for Accommodation and Food in New Zealand

Working for food and accommodation in New Zealand is commonly known to New Zealanders as “WWOOFing” or “Woofing”. This is because the term was originally coined from the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) organisation where workers could work on an organic farm in exchange for food and accommodation. While this is still a common practice in New Zealand and a popular experience among backpackers (see Everything You Need to Know About WWOOFing in New Zealand), the term is now used for any type of work in exchange for food and accommodation. This could be working in a hostel or other types of commercial accommodation, house-sitting, babysitting, doing house chores and more.

The common deal most workers and WWOOFing hosts make is for the worker to do 2-4 hours of work per day for five days a week in exchange for accommodation and three meals per day. There are variations of these hours, for instance, you can work more hours in a day for an extra day off. We’ll go more into detail on your rights when working for food and accommodation below.

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What Visa Do You Need to Work for Accommodation and Food in New Zealand?

First things first, can you legally work for food and accommodation in New Zealand? To do work in exchange for any kind of reward in New Zealand you need to have a valid work visa. The most common visa people get while travelling in New Zealand is a working holiday visa. However, any other work visa is usually valid too. The work conditions are made very clear when you receive your visa.

For more information on the working holiday visa, see What is a Working Holiday Visa?

Can You Work for Accommodation on a Visitor Visa?

If you are in New Zealand on a visitor visa, you cannot legally work for accommodation and food. If caught, your hosts could be faced with charges. Inspections on work for accommodation hosts have become more and more frequent over the years.

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What are Your Rights to Working for Accommodation and Food?

What is the Value of Your Work?

The most important thing to note is that the value of the accommodation and food should not be lower than the value of your work at minimum wage. The minimum wage in New Zealand was NZ$23.15 per hour in 2024. So for example, if you worked for accommodation for two hours per day at a minimum wage of NZ$23.15, your reward should’ve been of a minimum value of NZ$46.30.

For more information on what you should be getting paid, see the Employment New Zealand website. You can also view the current minimum wage on the  Employment New Zealand website run by the New Zealand Government.

The Choice of Accommodation or a Paid Wage

Before you start working with your host, you must be offered a choice of either work for a selected amount of hours in exchange for food and accommodation or paid at least minimum wage. Under New Zealand law, you are entitled to a full wage with only 15% deduction for food and accommodation for your labour, unless you and your host have both agreed on a fair contract. See more about that in the section below.

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Do You Need a Contract to Work for Accommodation and Food?

Not only is a contract for work for accommodation and food a legal requirement in New Zealand, but it’s also a good idea so that both you and your hosts have the same understanding. Under New Zealand law, you need to have separate contracts when doing work in exchange for accommodation and food. Employees can’t be paid in accommodation and food only; payment must be in money. When an employer offers accommodation and food, however, this can be deducted from the wage if the employee agrees to it in the form of either a tenancy agreement or an accommodation agreement – separate from the employment agreement (or able to be separated).

Expect work for accommodation contracts to be short and concise. They might not look like much, but they display a fair working agreement for both you and your host.

When offered a contract, you should be aware of two main terms:

Board: Accommodation + three meals a day
Lodging: Accommodation

The contract must also display that you have the option to either work for “board” or be paid a stated wage. The contract must also state how many average hours you will be expected to work. For example, your work for accommodation and food contract could include a section like this:

The first two hours of work each day are to be compensated by: (Check your chosen option)
Board: Private room plus three daily meals (valued at NZ$50.00), or Hourly wage of NZ$20

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Do You Need to Pay Taxes When Working for Accommodation and Food?

New Zealand has a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax system, where income tax is deducted from your payroll, i.e. your wage. Find out more in our guide to the New Zealand Work Tax System: Work and Pay Your Taxes!

It is your host/employer’s responsibility to deduct Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) and Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) taxes on the value of your accommodation and meals, as well as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the accommodation provided (if a commercial accommodation). For you, this means you are a well-protected employee with benefits of accident medical cover under the ACC. Learn more about ACC in What is ACC and Employee Accident Cover?

We know that paying taxes while working for accommodation is a tricky subject, so take a look at the IRD’s Tax Implications for Working for Accommodation page for more information.

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What Rewards Can You Accept When Working for Accommodation and Food?

Can You Accept Cash?

Yes, you can receive cash for your work as long as your host declares it properly so that it can be taxed. If not, then it is considered being given cash “under the table” which is illegal and both you and your host could be taken to court.

Can You Accept Other Rewards?

Sure you can receive other rewards, whether it’s an activity or borrowing the car for the day or whatever. However, the reward should not be contingent on your work. This means that it’s offered to you as an extra “perk” rather than something you have to work for. For example, if you are told: “if you work an extra two hours then I will give you the car to borrow for a few hours” then it is considered as a reward for work and will be seen and treated under the same tax rules above.

Sources:

The information in this guide has been compiled from our extensive research, travel and experiences across New Zealand and the South Pacific, accumulated over more than a decade of numerous visits to each destination. Additional sources for this guide include the following:

Our editorial standards: At NZ Pocket Guide, we uphold strict editorial standards to ensure accurate and quality content.

About The Author

Robin C.

This article has been reviewed and approved by Robin, who is the co-founder of NZ Pocket Guide. With more than 15 years of experience in the New Zealand tourism industry, Robin has co-founded three influential tourism businesses and five additional travel guides for South Pacific nations. He is an expert in New Zealand travel and has tested over 600 activities and 300+ accommodations across the country.

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