NEW ZEALAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Fiona Ashby, Luke Bowers, Daniel Erickson, Jessica Phillips, Natalie Foster, Shelley Slade-Gully, Tina Liu and Theresa Le Bas, Tompkins Wake
It provides simpler replacement, changing how annual leave, sick leave, family violence leave, bereavement leave and alternative leave will be earned, taken and paid. Businesses should begin reviewing their leave calculation systems and payroll processes now, as replacement legislation is likely to introduce new cal - culation methods and entitlements that will require operational changes. Competition Law Reform The Commerce (Promoting Competition and Other Matters) Amendment Bill is expected to be brought into force by mid-2026 and introduces a package of reforms modernising and strengthening New Zea - land’s competition settings. The Bill addresses: • complexity, cost and delays in supporting pro- competitive collaboration; • Merger control: the Bill clarifies the substantial lessening of competition test to cover the creation, strengthening or entrenchment of market power, and allows the Commerce Commission to assess serial acquisitions. It introduces “call-in” and “hold- separate” powers, and sets new statutory time - frames for complex merger decisions. • Collaborative conduct: a new statutory notifica - tion regime is introduced, enabling firms to notify the Commission and proceed with arrangements unless the Commission objects, along with stream - lined cartel clearance provisions. • Enforcement: the Bill strengthens enforcement by introducing corrective action orders for contraven - tions of Part 2 of the Commerce Act 1986. • limitations in enforcement tools; and • gaps in the merger control framework. Key changes include the following.
• Predatory pricing: a new objective test for preda - tory pricing is introduced, removing the previous requirement to prove recoupment. • Confidentiality and whistle-blowers: the Bill enhances protections for confidential information, and introduces whistle-blower protections. Businesses involved in mergers and acquisitions, or that are party to collaborative arrangements with competitors, should monitor the progress of this Bill closely, as it may alter the thresholds, procedures and substantive rules that currently apply under the Com - merce Act 1986. Intellectual Property The Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill, introduced to Parliament in November 2024, proposes to introduce a “fair dealing” exception to copyright infringement for parody and satire. If passed, this will bring New Zealand’s copyright law into line with the approach taken in other countries, including Australia, the United States, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany. Businesses and content creators operating in the media, advertising or entertainment sectors should be aware of this development and its potential implications for how their content and brand assets may be used by others. Data Protection The Biometric Processing Privacy Code 2025 came into force on 3 November 2025, introducing specific compliance obligations for organisations processing biometric information. Businesses with existing bio - metric systems have until 3 August 2026 to achieve full compliance – a deadline that is now imminent. Businesses should treat this deadline as an urgent priority and conduct a thorough compliance review of all biometric systems in use across their operations.
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