In the fast-changing HR landscape, an emerging trend is creating a social media firestorm and forcing employers to consider their hiring protocols. The ‘trial interview’ was slowly gaining momentum until it shot to prominence in viral Reddit posts.

The screenshot shows an email from a candidate to a prospective employer rejecting a request for a lengthy trial period before securing the role. The author writes: “A “one-week trial” that requires office attendance and full employee level work is not a trial but unpaid labor,” and signs off with, “Wishing you luck finding no one comfortable with that arrangement.”

While the veracity of the email or the offer can’t be proven, recruitment experts have confirmed the trend is indeed real, with trial interviews becoming increasingly common globally and emerging in New Zealand, particularly in the tech sector.

But before SMEs experiment with extended trials, there’s a critical question: is it legal and, if so, what’s the best way to go about it?

The Legal Reality Of Unpaid Work Trials

Floods of commenters on the Reddit post queried whether the applicant had misunderstood and the trial period would in fact be paid. But plenty of others cited their own examples of unpaid trials, confirming the phenomenon exists.

New Zealand employment law is clear about unpaid work trials and the parameters are tight. An unpaid trial is only lawful when it’s necessary to demonstrate specific skills for the role, lasts no longer than required to assess those skills (typically brief periods – often just a few hours maximum), remains under direct supervision throughout, involves no productive work benefiting the business and doesn’t replace or cover paid staff.

Step outside these boundaries and it’s no longer considered a trial – it’s employing someone without paying them.

So, what triggers paid employment? It’s when the candidate adds value to a business’s operations, performs actual work tasks or when the trial extends beyond genuine skills assessment needs. For most office-based and knowledge worker roles, multi-day trials automatically fall into paid territory. New Zealand courts have established through cases like the Salad Bowl decision that when work provides commercial benefit to the business, an employment relationship exists and payment is required.

The Stakes Are High If The Line Is Crossed

Getting this wrong isn’t just embarrassing, it’s potentially criminal. Wage theft became a criminal offense in New Zealand in March 2025 under the Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment Act. Penalties include up to a year’s imprisonment for individual employers or directors, fines up to $5,000, or both. For companies, the maximum penalty is a fine of $30,000. Employment Relations Authority claims can result in back-payment orders with penalties and interest, while social media backlash can damage an employer’s brand faster than they can post a job ad.

In a market where workplace culture perceptions dropped to a three-year low of 26.2% in Q4 2024, reputational damage matters.

Different Rules for Different Roles

Hospitality and retail

A short, unpaid period of 1-2 hours is permissible in New Zealand. But a 2-4 hour paid trial shift remains industry best practice and legally sound. Candidates can demonstrate food preparation skills, customer service or their ability to work under pressure. But they shouldn’t be covering regular shifts, replacing rostered staff, or handling unsupervised service during busy periods. A supervisor must be present and observing throughout – that’s non-negotiable under New Zealand employment law requirements. 

Office and knowledge workers

Here’s where extended unpaid trials become problematic. In a competitive labour market, most skilled candidates are currently employed. Asking them to take annual leave for an interview trial could potentially breach their current contracts and is unreasonable. Instead, SMEs could consider a half-day or full-day project-based assessment, but nuance would decide whether or not this should be paid. The advice is that if the work would benefit the business, it should be paid; if the task is hypothetical, it’s a grey area.

Technical and specialist roles

Understanding the distinction between skills testing and work trials matters legally. A coding test is different from building a feature for an existing product. Leading tech companies have already figured this out: Linear conducts paid 3-5 day work trials where candidates work directly with teams on real projects using internal tools and codebases, while many other start-ups have reportedly implemented paid trial processes as standard practice.

For take-home assignments, SMEs are advised to keep them under 3-4 hours and consider payment for work that produces usable deliverables. The most ethical scenario would be to budget one day at appropriate contractor rates for a paid working interview – it’s becoming the gold standard for assessing technical talent, respecting candidates’ time and expertise and building a reputation as an employer of choice.

If Pays To Be Safe Rather Than Sorry On Socials

Work trials can be valuable assessment tools, but only within legal parameters. In a market where skills shortages persist across critical industries – aged carers, teachers, electricians, childcare workers – fair, transparent practices aren’t just legal requirements, they’re competitive advantages.

When in doubt, SMEs are advised to make trials paid and short, and ensure genuine skills assessment under supervision. For anything longer than a brief period, it may be worth consulting Employment New Zealand or an employment lawyer first. Paying to get it right is a worthy investment if it avoids a disgruntled candidate airing their gripe to a global audience.