Employees on valid trial periods have all minimum employment rights and responsibilities (eg in relation to health and safety, minimum pay, annual holidays, public holidays, sick and bereavement leave and equal pay), except bringing a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal
Minimum rights (such as the minimum wage and annual holidays) are legal requirements and apply even if they’re not in the employment agreement (contract). Your employment agreement can’t reduce these or trade them off for other things.
Under the law, technically every employee must have a written employment agreement. However, you have minimum rights even if you don't have a written employment agreement.
Labour Inspectors make sure that employers operate within the law in relation minimum entitlements – that is things like minimum wages, annual leave, and public holidays. They can take action to enforce minimum standards through the Employment Relations Authority.
If you believe you are receiving less than your legal minimum entitlements then ideally, you should discuss this with your employer first to give them a chance to put things right. If this discussion gets you nowhere then you can contact a Labour Inspector. It won’t cost you anything to get their help. You can contact a Labour Inspector by calling the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (previously called the Department of Labour) on 0800 20 90 20.
You can ask your employer to pay out what he/she owes you when you leave. If they refuse to do so, call the number above.
You should:
- Keep records on paper or electronically (as long as the information can be accessed easily and converted into written form).
- Keep wages and time records, and holiday and leave records .
- Know your legal minimum entitlements.