Full source list for Can I put my new hire on a 90-day trial period — and what makes it stick?
The references subpage at /wayfinder/refs/90-day-trial-period carries the citation detail that doesn't belong in the body. Suggested structure:
1. ERA case data, 2015–2023. Approximately 75% of trial-provision dismissals considered by the Employment Relations Authority during this period (133 of 178 cases) failed to be upheld. Primary source: MBIE Regulatory Impact Statement for the Employment Relations (Trial Periods) Amendment Act 2023, published December 2023 — a government analysis of ERA decisions from 2015 to 2023. The same figure is cited by The Law Association, Hesketh Henry, and Legalwise NZ drawing on the same dataset.
2. The 20-employee threshold for using trial periods was removed by the Employment Relations (Trial Periods) Amendment Act 2023, effective 23 December 2023. The amendment replaced section 67A of the Employment Relations Act 2000.
3. The signed-before-start requirement is a long-standing case-law-developed condition for valid trial periods. See Smith v Stokes Valley Pharmacy (2009) Ltd [2010] NZEmpC 111 for the foundational ruling on this point.
4. The day-count-not-month-count requirement derives from the wording in section 67A(2)(a), which specifies "a specified period (not exceeding 90 days)." Courts have read this strictly.
5. Immigration New Zealand: "Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) and 90-day trial periods." Effective 29 October 2023. Accredited employers cannot include trial provisions in employment agreements for AEWV holders; doing so risks accreditation revocation.
6. The "new employee means new to you" rule comes from section 67A(1) of the Employment Relations Act, which limits trial provisions to employees "who have not previously been employed by that employer." Case law has extended this to include former contractors who could have been reclassified as employees and to people who completed paid trial shifts before signing.