Employment Agreements For Cafe Managers

What should you put in a cafe manager employment agreement in New Zealand?

The reassuring answer is that it doesn't need to be complicated, but it does need to be specific. A cafe manager isn't just another front-of-house employee. They're often opening the store, handling cash, supervising staff, ordering supplies, dealing with customer issues and keeping the day running when you're not there.

That extra responsibility means your agreement should do more than list a job title and pay rate. It should clearly set expectations for rosters, authority, wage obligations, public holidays and the practical realities of hospitality work.

Getting this right early helps you avoid misunderstandings later, especially when the cafe is busy, margins are tight and everyone is moving quickly.

What Should A Cafe Manager Employment Agreement Include?

A cafe manager employment agreement should include all legally required employment terms, plus cafe-specific clauses that reflect the manager's operational responsibilities.

Under the Employment Relations Act 2000, every employee in New Zealand must have a written employment agreement. For an individual cafe manager, this will usually be an individual employment agreement unless a collective agreement applies.

At a minimum, the agreement should cover:

• The employer's name and the employee's name
• The position title, such as Cafe Manager or Store Manager
• A clear description of duties
• The place of work
• Hours of work or guaranteed hours
• Pay, pay frequency and any salary arrangements
• How public holidays, leave and breaks are handled, including a statement that the employee will be paid at least time and a half for hours worked on a public holiday
• Notice periods for ending employment
• A clear, plain-language explanation of how employment relationship problems can be raised and resolved, including the 90-day timeframe for most personal grievances and the 12-month timeframe for sexual harassment personal grievances
• Any trial period or probation period, if you use one
• Where relevant, an employment protection provision explaining what happens if the business is restructured, sold, transferred or contracted out

For a cafe manager, it's also sensible to go further and spell out the parts of the role that carry extra trust. For example, you might include:

• Cash handling and till reconciliation
• Opening and closing duties
• Lock-up, alarm and key responsibilities
• Stock control and supplier ordering
• Rostering or shift supervision
• Food safety procedures and hygiene checks
• Customer complaints and refund authority
• Reporting issues to you, such as equipment faults, incidents or staff absences

Say you run a cafe in Wellington and your manager is responsible for ordering milk, coffee beans and cabinet food from approved suppliers. If the agreement just says "general management duties", you may run into confusion about whether they can approve a new supplier, vary an order, or spend above a certain amount. A simple authority clause can make that clear.

Templates can be a useful starting point, but cafe manager agreements work best when they're tailored to how your business actually runs.

Do Cafe Managers Need A Different Agreement From Other Cafe Staff?

Yes, in most cases a cafe manager should have a more detailed agreement than your casual baristas or general cafe assistants.

The basic legal rules are the same, but the risk profile is different. A manager may have access to your safe, EFTPOS reports, supplier accounts, staff information, keys, security codes and social media or booking systems. They may also be the person making decisions when you're not on site.

Your agreement should match that level of responsibility.

Manager-Specific Duties To Include

Your duties clause should be practical, not vague. Depending on your setup, you might cover:

• Opening the cafe, setting up the till and checking float amounts
• Closing the cafe, reconciling cash and securing the premises
• Supervising staff on shift and allocating tasks
• Training new staff on service standards and food safety steps
• Managing breaks during service so legal entitlements are still met
• Ordering stock from approved suppliers within set budgets
• Checking deliveries and recording shortages or damaged goods
• Following food control plan requirements and internal cleaning checklists
• Handling customer complaints, refunds or discounts within approved limits

You don't need to list every tiny task. The goal is to make the core responsibilities clear enough that both sides know what the role involves.

Authority Limits

It's also worth setting boundaries around what your manager can and can't approve.

For example, you might say your manager can place routine supplier orders up to a weekly budget, but can't enter into new supplier contracts, approve capital purchases, hire staff, dismiss staff or change pay rates without your approval.

That protects your business while still giving your manager enough authority to run a normal shift.

Can You Use A 90-Day Trial Period For A Cafe Manager?

Yes, you can use a 90-day trial period for a cafe manager if the legal requirements are met.

In New Zealand, a trial period can be up to 90 calendar days. It's only available for a new employee who hasn't worked for you before. This is important in cafes, because a person promoted from barista to manager, rehired after previous employment, or moved from another role in the same business will usually not qualify for a trial period.

The trial period must be included in the written employment agreement and agreed before the employee starts work. You can't add it after they have already started.

To use a trial period properly, make sure:

• The trial period clause is in the written agreement
• The maximum length is no more than 90 calendar days
• The employee hasn't worked for you before
• The employee receives the agreement before starting work
• The employee has a real chance to get independent advice before signing
• The employee signs the agreement before their first shift
• You give any notice of dismissal during the trial period, not after it ends

You should also be careful if the person is a migrant worker. Immigration New Zealand doesn't allow trial periods for workers employed on an Accredited Employer Work Visa, so don't use a trial period for an AEWV worker. If immigration status is part of the hiring process, get the right migration advice before offering the role.

A trial period doesn't mean you can treat someone unfairly or ignore good faith obligations. You should still be clear about expectations, give feedback where possible and keep records of any issues.

Trial Period Or Probation Period?

A trial period and a probation period aren't the same thing.

A 90-day trial period can limit an employee's ability to bring a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal if the clause is valid and used correctly. A probation period is more about assessing suitability over a stated period, but it doesn't remove the usual dismissal protections.

If you're hiring a manager into a role with real responsibility, you might use one or the other depending on the circumstances. The wording matters, so don't copy a clause from an old agreement without checking it still fits your business.

How Should You Cover Rosters, Opening And Closing Duties?

Your agreement should clearly explain the manager's hours, rostering expectations and any requirements to open or close the cafe.

Hospitality roles often involve early starts, weekends, public holidays and last-minute changes. That flexibility can be workable, but only if the agreement is drafted properly.

Hours And Guaranteed Hours

If your cafe manager is full-time, you might set ordinary hours such as 40 hours per week, worked across Monday to Sunday according to a roster.

If the hours vary, be careful with availability provisions. Under the Employment Relations Act 2000, if you want an employee to be available for work beyond their guaranteed hours, the agreement must include an availability provision and provide reasonable compensation for that availability.

In practice, this means you should avoid wording that says the manager must be available whenever needed, with no guaranteed hours and no compensation. That kind of clause can create problems.

You should also think about shift cancellation. If your agreement allows you to cancel a shift, it needs to state a reasonable notice period and reasonable compensation. If it doesn't, you may need to pay the employee what they would have earned for the cancelled shift.

Opening And Closing Duties

Opening and closing duties should be paid work. If your manager needs to arrive 20 minutes early to unlock, turn on equipment, check deliveries or prepare the till, that time should be counted as work time.

The same applies at the end of the day. Cashing up, cleaning down, locking up and setting alarms are work tasks, even if the doors are already closed to customers.

This matters because minimum wage and holiday pay calculations depend on actual hours worked. If you're paying a salary, you still need to be confident the salary covers all hours worked at least at the applicable minimum wage rate.

What Pay, Breaks And Holiday Clauses Do You Need?

You need clauses that make the manager's pay, breaks, leave and public holiday entitlements clear and compliant with New Zealand employment law.

Cafe managers are sometimes paid a salary, but that doesn't mean wage and time records stop mattering. You still need to keep accurate employment, wage, time, holiday and leave records. Employment and holiday records generally need to be kept for 6 years.

Minimum Wage And Salary Checks

The minimum wage applies to cafe managers, including salaried managers. Minimum wage rates are usually reviewed each year and commonly change on 1 April, so check the current official rate before you finalise pay.

If your manager works long hours, a salary that looks reasonable on paper can become risky in practice. For example, if your manager is paid a fixed weekly salary for 40 hours but regularly works 50 hours after you include opening, closing and stocktake time, you need to check the salary still covers every hour worked.

New Zealand law doesn't give a general automatic right to overtime rates for all employees. If you want overtime, time off in lieu or additional allowances to apply, set that out clearly in the agreement.

Meal And Rest Breaks

Your manager is entitled to paid rest breaks and unpaid meal breaks under the Employment Relations Act 2000.

The exact number depends on the length of the work period. For example:

• For a work period of more than 4 hours and up to 6 hours, the employee is generally entitled to one paid 10-minute rest break and one unpaid 30-minute meal break
• For a work period of more than 6 hours and up to 8 hours, the employee is generally entitled to two paid 10-minute rest breaks and one unpaid 30-minute meal break

Hospitality service can be unpredictable, but busy periods don't remove break entitlements. Your agreement and roster should work together so breaks can actually happen.

Annual Leave, Sick Leave And Other Leave

Your agreement should reflect minimum entitlements under the Holidays Act 2003. These include:

• 4 weeks of paid annual holidays after 12 months of continuous employment
• 10 days of paid sick leave per year after the employee becomes entitled to sick leave
• Bereavement leave where the legal requirements are met
• 10 days of paid family violence leave after the employee becomes entitled to it

Holiday pay can get tricky in hospitality because rosters and earnings can vary. You may need to calculate annual holiday pay using ordinary weekly pay or average weekly earnings, depending on the situation. If your manager receives bonuses, allowances or regular additional payments, these can affect holiday pay calculations.

Public Holiday Clauses For Hospitality

New Zealand has 12 public holidays each year. Cafes often trade on some of them, so your agreement should deal with public holidays clearly.

If your manager works on a public holiday, you must pay at least time and a half for the hours worked. If the public holiday falls on a day that would otherwise be a working day for that manager, they're also entitled to an alternative holiday.

The phrase "otherwise working day" matters. For a manager who usually works Saturdays, a Saturday public holiday may be an otherwise working day. For a manager who never works Mondays, a Monday public holiday may not be.

You can agree in writing to transfer a public holiday to another day, but the rules need to be followed and the arrangement should be clear. Don't rely on an informal chat during a busy week.

Can You Treat A Cafe Manager As A Contractor?

Usually, no. A cafe manager will often look like an employee because you control their roster, duties, standards and how the cafe is run.

Calling someone a contractor in the contract doesn't make them one. If the relationship works like employment in practice, you can still face employee entitlement claims, wage arrears and record-keeping issues.

This is especially relevant for a cafe manager because they're typically integrated into your business. They may wear your uniform, supervise your staff, use your systems, work set shifts and represent your cafe to customers and suppliers.

The Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 introduced changes including a contractor gateway test. Broadly, the gateway looks at whether there's a written agreement saying the person is an independent contractor or not an employee; whether they're free to work for others; whether they aren't required to work or be available at specified times, days or minimum periods, or can subcontract in a compliant way; whether the arrangement can't be ended just because they decline additional work; and whether they had a reasonable opportunity to get independent advice.

For most cafe manager roles, those features won't fit comfortably. If you need someone to be on your roster, follow your processes and run your cafe your way, employment is usually the safer and more accurate structure.

If you're genuinely engaging a consultant, temporary operations adviser or short-term setup specialist, a written contractor agreement might be possible. The details matter, so get tailored advice before relying on a contractor model for a person who looks like part of your team.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

The biggest mistake is using a generic employment agreement that doesn't match how your cafe actually operates.

Other common problems include:

• Letting the manager start work before the agreement is signed
• Using a trial period clause that was added too late, used for someone who has worked for you before, or drafted incorrectly
• Paying a salary without tracking actual hours worked
• Treating opening and closing time as unpaid
• Leaving public holiday rules to be worked out week by week
• Giving broad ordering or spending authority without limits
• Forgetting to include confidentiality obligations for staff, supplier and customer information, and any reasonable non-compete limits
• Not updating the agreement when the manager's role grows

It's also worth checking your privacy practices if your manager handles staff records, CCTV access, customer bookings, loyalty programme data or online orders. The Privacy Act 2020 requires you to handle personal information carefully, including limiting access to people who need it for their role.

A well-drafted agreement won't run the cafe for you, but it gives you a much clearer starting point when expectations need to be managed.

Key Takeaways

• A cafe manager employment agreement should be more detailed than a basic staff agreement because the role usually involves cash, rosters, suppliers and supervision.
• You need a written employment agreement with all required clauses, including employment relationship problem wording, public holiday time and a half, and relevant employment protection provisions.
• Any 90-day trial period must be agreed in writing before work starts and is only for a new employee who hasn't worked for you before.
• Rosters, guaranteed hours, availability, shift cancellation and opening or closing duties should be clear and practical.
• Salaried managers still need wage, time, holiday and leave records, and their pay must cover all hours worked at least at the applicable minimum wage rate.
• Most cafe managers should be employees, not contractors, because the role usually involves control, integration and ongoing responsibility within your business.

If you'd like help with your cafe manager employment agreement, rostering clauses, trial period wording or public holiday obligations, you can reach us at 0800 002 184 or team@sprintlaw.co.nz for a free, no-obligations chat.