Board and Lodging for Au Pairs and Live-In Nannies in New Zealand

What board and lodging actually means

In everyday chat, people use board and lodging to mean roughly the same thing. New Zealand law treats them differently, and the difference matters when you work out what you can deduct.

Under the Minimum Wage Act, board means you provide accommodation and meals. Lodging means you provide accommodation only. So a live-in set-up where you cover the room, the power, the wifi and dinner most nights is board. A room where your nanny sorts their own food is lodging.

For most au pair arrangements, board is the one that applies.

Can you deduct it from your nanny's pay?

Yes, as long as you tick three boxes. The deduction has to be agreed in writing, it has to be reasonable, and it has to sit within the limits the law sets.

No written agreement, no deduction. That last part catches out a surprising number of first-time host families, so get it into the employment agreement from day one.

Au pairs are usually paid on take-home, not gross

Here is something that sets au pairs apart from a standard nanny, and it shapes everything that follows. Au pair pay is almost always agreed as a take-home figure, the cash that actually lands in their account each week, rather than an hourly gross rate. Take a look at the net weekly ranges in our 2026 au pair rates and hiring guide and you will notice they are all quoted that way for exactly this reason.

That changes how board and lodging works in practice. Because you are starting from an agreed take-home number, the board and lodging amount becomes the part that flexes. Families nudge it up or down to settle on a weekly result that feels fair to the au pair and still works for the household budget. There is no single right number here. It is a balance between what you can comfortably afford and what makes the placement worthwhile for them.

How much can you charge?

This is where the old "what feels fair to us" approach lands families in hot water.

The cleanest way to handle it is to agree a fixed weekly amount in the employment agreement, written down in dollars, and keep it the same every pay. As long as that figure is reasonable for what you are providing, you are on solid ground.

If you don't fix an amount, the law falls back on caps tied to the minimum wage:

• Board (accommodation and meals): up to 15% of wages at the minimum rate
• Lodging (accommodation only): up to 5%

From 1 April 2026 the adult minimum wage is $23.95 an hour. On a 40 hour week that is $958 gross, so those fallback caps come out around $143 a week for board and $48 for lodging. Most families settle well under that with a sensible fixed figure anyway.

One detail people get tangled in: your minimum wage check is done on the pay before board and lodging comes off. The deducted amount still counts as wages for that calculation, so a properly agreed deduction won't breach the minimum wage on its own.

Put it in writing

Vague arrangements cause arguments later. Your employment agreement should spell out the amount, whether it covers board or lodging, and that your employee has agreed to it. Something this simple does the job:

"The employee agrees to a deduction of $130 per week from their wages for board and lodging provided by the employer."

Clear wording protects everyone, your au pair included.

How tax fits in

Here is the part people most often get backwards. Board and lodging comes off after tax, not before.

Your au pair's full gross wage is taxed as normal, and PAYE is worked out on the lot. The agreed board and lodging amount then comes out of what is left, their take-home pay. It does not reduce their taxable income and it is not a tax deduction. It is simply money you hold back from net pay for the room and meals you provide.