Pitched as a way to strengthen the savings scheme Labour created, Labour's KiwiSaver policy would make employer contributions compulsory and lift them to 6% by 2032, even when workers reduce or pause their own contributions.

📋 Labour: Strengthening KiwiSaver, September 2026 →

What it does

• Makes employer contributions compulsory from 1 July 2028, including when an employee reduces or pauses their own contributions, rising to 6% by 2032.
• Sets the employee default rate at 4% and removes the minimum employee contribution rate, so workers could contribute less, or nothing, while their employer keeps paying.
• Bans new total remuneration contracts that absorb employer KiwiSaver contributions into salaries.
• Extends employer contributions to people working beyond 65 from 1 July 2028, and provides a KiwiSaver contribution for parents on paid parental leave.
• Labour says extra Employer Superannuation Contribution Tax revenue, which it estimates at $317.5 million by 2030/31, would help cover the parental leave contribution and the government's higher costs as an employer, with the rest managed through the Budget process.

The debate

Chris Hipkins announced the policy in Wellington on 13 September 2026, calling KiwiSaver one of Labour's proudest legacies. National's plan would raise both employer and employee defaults to 6% and make KiwiSaver compulsory for workers, while Labour's increase applies to employers only; Hipkins said raising workers' contributions to 6% was not responsible during a cost of living crisis. Labour's policy does not restore the annual government contribution the coalition cut, which Hipkins said Labour was not in a financial position to do. Simplicity founder Sam Stubbs said compulsion, employer-only contributions and banning total remuneration contracts were good steps, but argued the amounts people would save would not be nearly enough.