frequently asked questions

Yes – timesheets are required on a weekly basis to be completed in full by yourself unless the location you are working has a timeclock system. Timesheets must contain your full name, the date and hours you have worked. Some clients will require other specific information to appear on the timesheet such as location or site name. All timesheets must be signed by yourself and the customer and are required to be emailed through to the relevant Trade Assist email address – this will be highlighted on the front of the timesheet book and is region-specific. The pay week is from Monday to Sunday with payday on the following Wednesday. All timesheets need to be sent through no later than 12pm Monday to ensure they are checked, processed and included in the Wednesday pay. Failure to get your timesheet in on time may result in you not being paid until the following week.

To find out if you're eligible for the Trade Assist Employee Benefits please visit the following link: www.tradeassist.net/help-and-support/terms-and-conditions

If you (or a person who depends on you for care) are sick or injured, you are entitled to sick leave in accordance with your employment agreement. You must have been in continuous employment for at least 6 months to qualify for sick leave, and your entitlement is 10 days per year. If you do not have any sick leave ‘balance’ owing, sick leave will be unpaid. You will be required to advise both your site contact and your Consultant/Resourcer as soon as possible to advise them you will be unable to attend work. After three days of sick leave, you will be required to provide a medical certificate confirming your sickness or injury (at your cost). Medical certificates must describe the nature of your sickness. We may also require you to provide medical certificates at other times at our cost.

If you have resigned and your employment has finished, and you wish to reapply for another role with Trade Assist, you certainly will be able, but you will be treated as a new employee. You will need to complete the full onboarding system again, including signing a new contract, resetting your start date and therefore your anniversary dates.

You can request leave after 3 months of continuous service (instead of after 12 months which is New Zealand employment law). Your leave request must be submitted via the employee payroll portal and is subject to approval from a consultant. Only leave taken on an otherwise working day will be paid.

If you (or a person who depends on you for care) are sick or injured, you are entitled to sick leave in accordance with your employment agreement. You must have been in continuous employment for at least 6 months to qualify for sick leave, and your entitlement is 10 days per year. If you do not have any sick leave ‘balance’ owing, sick leave will be unpaid. You will be required to advise both your site contact and your consultant/resource as soon as possible to advise them you will be unable to attend work. You should be aware that after three days of sick leave, you will be required to provide a medical certificate confirming your sickness or injury (at your cost). It is our expectation that medical certificates describe the nature of your sickness. We may also require you to provide medical certificates at other times at our cost.

No - under the Holidays Act 2003 if the employee’s fixed-term employment agreement is extended over 12 months or the employee’s work pattern becomes more regular so that 4 weeks’ annual holidays may be provided, then the employer and employee should renegotiate the employment agreement so that the employee is entitled to 4 weeks’ annual holidays 12 months after they were no longer eligible for pay-as-you-go annual holiday pay.

On commencement with Trade Assist, you should have received an email with log on details to view your payslips and leave balances. The leave balance is located under the Temporary Staff drop-down and the link to this site is included in the email sent weekly with your payslip. If you do not have this or have forgotten your login details, please contact your Recruitment Consultant or the office and they will be able to resend your details. The NZ Holiday Act does not recognise any annual leave until it becomes entitled/earnt leave, i.e. after 12 months of continuous employment. If an employee has been working less than a year, then they aren’t entitled to annual holidays, but Trade Assist do allow employees to take some of their annual holidays in advance. Sick leave is available after 6 months of continuous employment and then every 12 months from this date at an entitlement of 10 days per year, capped at a total of 20 days.

Trade Assist will monitor your records and will pay your leave based on your entitled/earnt balance, however, if you have no balance then leave in advance will be paid based on the following basic calculation: 8% of your year to date gross earnings, divided by your Relevant Daily Pay, converted back into days. If you have already been paid out the equivalent to your total 8% at the date of your requested leave, then this will result in unpaid leave.

When an employee takes an unpaid leave of more than a week during the year (not including unpaid sick, bereavement or domestic violence leave), the time required before the employee becomes entitled to annual holidays is extended by the period of unpaid leave in excess of one week. For example, if an employee takes two weeks’ unpaid leave, they become entitled to annual holidays one week after the anniversary of their starting date of employment, or their amended anniversary date. Time on ACC, parental leave, voluntary military service leave, or another type of leave or holiday doesn’t affect the employee’s anniversary date for annual holiday purposes.

To request leave you can log a leave request in the employee payroll portal, or if you do not have access, you will be required to advise your Consultant of your desire to take leave, and they will send you a Leave Request Form. Please complete this form and return it with your leave dates. Remember the dates reflect the first day and last working day of your leave. Leave requests must be submitted in advance.

Whilst we will be sad to see you go, we appreciate people's individual needs change over time. If you would like to resign you will need to send your resignation letter/email through to your consultant and/or payroll@tradeassist.net along with the date of your last expected workday. Any items that belong to Trade Assist, including but not limited to, PPE, Vehicle Magnets, Tools, ID cards, will need to be returned to the consultant or branch. On return of all items, your final pay will be paid in the next pay run, include any entitlements you may be entitled to and net of any authorised deductions for unreturned company property or loans etc.

Your leave may not have been paid for any of the following reasons, or one not listed: - All leave must be logged via the employee portal - A positive leave balance must be available - Leave is not available prior to the 3-month continuous employment - Leave is only available to be paid for an otherwise working day - Leave may be approved however if hours are loaded for the same day, the leave will be removed If you do not believe the unpaid leave is not covered by the above, you can email payroll@tradeassist.net and we will be happy to discuss the reason with you.

If you have an accident or injury covered by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) scheme, you may be entitled to the “first-week compensation” equivalent to 80% of your weekly earnings up to the first 5 day continuous days, if it were a work-related accident. You will be required to contact and advise both the Client you are working with and your Consultant. Trade Assist, may pay for the first doctor's visit per separate event, either by providing you a Purchase Order number for the Trade Assist doctor or by reimbursing you the cost based on your receipt. If you are receiving first-week compensation” for a work-related accident, you can request Trade Assist to top up the first week from 80 to 100% by using one day of your sick leave for every five days’ leave, based on your leave balance. For non-work-related accidents, you can use sick leave and/or annual leave (if you have any available). You are still required to keep your consultant updated on your recovery and return to work.