Contracting with Younity.

What contracting actually means

When you’re a contractor, you’re essentially self-employed. That means:

• You’re running your own business, usually a one-person show.
• You choose what work you take on – and sometimes when, where, and how you do it.
• You’re working under a ‘Contract for Services’ with your agency/client.
• You handle your own tax and statutory obligations (including  ACC and GST).
• You get paid a set hourly or daily rate.

Contract lengths vary. Some are short-term -just a few weeks – while others can run for months or even years. Most of the roles we place fall into 3, 6, or 12-month contracts, with opportunities to extend if the client’s happy and there’s more work to be done.

You can contract as a sole trader or set up your own limited liability company – it’s up to you.

If you’re unsure which is best, we recommend speaking with an accountant or financial advisor who understands the world of contracting.

Important Information

Getting yourself set up

As a contractor, you decide how to structure your work life Some people choose to set themselves up as a sole trader, while others prefer to set up their own limited liability company. Either way, you’re in charge.

If you’re brand new to it all and need a hand, let us know, we can connect you with trusted professionals who can walk you through the setup process.

When you take on a contract through Younity, you’ll be representing both yourself and us on the client site. That means being professional, reliable, and doing a great job. We’ll take care of the admin side (contracts, onboarding, and support) so you can focus on delivering your best work.

Tax obligations

Since you are self-employed, you take responsibility for all your tax obligations and need to manage:

• Your own income tax
• GST (if you earn over $60K a year)
• ACC levies
• and file your returns with the IRD on time.

If you’re GST registered, we’ll pay GST on top of your rate, just make sure you give us your GST number.

We also deduct Withholding Tax from your payments, paying it directly to IRD.

This is required by law for all labour-hire contractors like us.

• If you don’t fill it in: we have to deduct 45% (yep, really)
• If you fill it in but leave the rate blank: we’ll deduct 20%

You can apply to the IRD for an exemption from Schedular Tax using a form called IR23BS – if approved, send us your certificate and we won’t need to deduct it.

Do I need insurance?

Yes. Before you start any contract, you’ll need to have Public Indemnity (PI) and Professional Liability (PL) insurance cover.This protects you from being taken to court in the event of a major error, omission or negligence claim.

You’ve got two options:

• Use Younity’s insurance  – easy to set up, covers up to $10 million for PI and PL, and you only pay for the days or hours you work.
• Organise your own cover – just make sure it’s at least $2 million for both PI and PL.

If a client requires a higher rate of cover then you must ensure that your own cover matches their minimum requirements – we’ll advise you of this. If you go with your own insurance, we’ll need a copy of your certificate before you start, and you’ll need to keep it up to date throughout the contract.

Good to know: it’s best practice to keep your insurance for seven years after a contract ends, just in case.

Health & Safety matters

We take health and safety seriously, and so should you. Younity follows the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and we expect all our contractors to do the same.

Before you start, you’ll complete our online H&S induction. If it’s been more than two years since your last one, we’ll also ask you to review and sign our Health & Safety Policy.

Since you’re a contractor, you’re classed as a PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking), so you should have your own basic health and safety processes too.

On your first day at a new client site, they’ll give you their own H&S induction. From there, follow their policies and procedures.

If anything feels unsafe or something’s not right, let us know straight away and we’ll help sort it.

Timesheets & getting paid

We use two systems (Flexitime and Karmly) to manage timesheets and payroll. They’re simple to use, and we’ll send you everything you need before you start.

Here’s how it works:

• You fill in your timesheet each week
• Your manager approves it
• We process it and pay you

These timesheets also double as your invoice, and we generate a Buyer-Created Tax Invoice (BCTI) for your records.

We pay monthly, based on the hours or days approved in your timesheets. Our payment cycle runs to the last Friday of each month, with a mix of four- and five-week months depending on the quarter.

You’ll get a payment calendar when you sign up, so you can plan ahead.

Quick tip: Late timesheets can delay your pay, so get them in on time. If your manager’s away or there’s a holdup, let us know and we’ll help keep things moving.

Ready to get started?

We’ve helped loads of contractors find great roles all over Aotearoa. Some are just starting out, others are seasoned pros, and many come back to us again and again for their next gig.

Whether you’re new to contracting or just looking for your next assignment, we’d love to help.

Got questions? Flick us an email at info@younity.co.nz and we’ll be happy to chat.

You can also check out this helpful guide on the Business New Zealand website: https://www.business.govt.nz/going-contracting/