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New Zealand: why confirm a former employee's job?

Every New Zealand employer must keep a wages and time record of the kind of work each employee usually does, and every individual employment agreement describes the work, so the facts are already in your records. Confirming them takes a minute and helps the person into their next job. certo asks on their behalf, with their explicit consent.

Law as of 26 October 2026 · Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31), version as at 8 October 2026

In short

  • The facts are already in your records. Every employer must keep a wages and time record of the kind of work each employee usually does, and every individual employment agreement describes the work (Employment Relations Act 2000, ss 130(1)(d) and 65(2)(a)). New Zealand law does not require a reference or a certificate of service, but the facts we ask about are ones you already keep.
  • It helps the person who worked for you. A record confirmed by a former employer is what the next employer trusts. Answering takes about a minute and needs no account.
  • certo asks on their behalf, with their explicit consent. Information privacy principle 11 lets you disclose personal information where you believe, on reasonable grounds, that the individual authorised it (IPP 11(1)(c)). The person started this check themselves, for these facts and no others.
  • You do not have to answer. No New Zealand law we found obliges an employer to answer certo. Declining is fine.

The Employment Relations Act

Employment Relations Act 2000, version as at 10 July 2026, quoted from New Zealand Legislation.

Section 65(2)(a): the written agreement describes the work

The individual employment agreement … must include … a description of the work to be performed by the employee;

Section 130(1)(d): the wages and time record

Every employer must at all times keep a record (called the wages and time record) showing, in the case of each employee employed by that employer, … the kind of work on which the employee is usually employed:

The employee may see that record, back 6 years (s 130(2)). The job title and the dates are facts your records already hold. We found no provision of the Employment Relations Act 2000 that obliges an employer to give a reference or a certificate of service, and none that obliges you to answer a request like this one.

Personal data

Privacy Act 2020, section 22, version as at 8 October 2026.

IPP 11(1)(c): disclosure the individual authorised

An agency that holds personal information must not disclose the information to any other agency or to any person unless the agency believes, on reasonable grounds, … that the disclosure is authorised by the individual concerned;

  • Reasonable grounds. certo records which account asked, when, and for which facts. Write to support@certo.bio and we send you the record for your request.
  • Only what was authorised. You confirm or leave unticked only the facts listed. Add nothing else: anything beyond them is not covered by the person's authorisation.

IPP 12: certo is outside New Zealand

certo is run from Estonia, in the EU. A disclosure overseas in reliance on IPP 11(1)(c) must also meet IPP 12, for example:

A believes on reasonable grounds that B is subject to privacy laws that, overall, provide comparable safeguards to those in this Act;

certo is subject to the EU's General Data Protection Regulation. Whether that meets the test is for your organisation to judge on reasonable grounds.

What this means for your answer

  • Tick only what your HR, payroll or personnel records show.
  • Not sure it is the same person? Press "We can't find a matching record". Never confirm a record you are not sure is theirs.
  • Your policy is not to answer? Press "We do not answer these requests". The record shows your organisation declined, and nobody else there is asked.

Sources

This page is not legal advice. It reflects the law as it stood on 26 October 2026.