Doctors and dentists seeking career opportunities in New Zealand can expect to be offered remuneration packages which compare favourably with those provided by countries with comparable healthcare systems. Salaries and allowances generally exceed those of the United Kingdom (UK) and many of the European countries, whilst offering equivalent or even lengthier leave entitlements and more generous allowances.

The majority of doctors and a number of dentists in New Zealand work in the public healthcare system, Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, which negotiates national agreements for all senior and resident medical and dental officers with their appropriate unions. These Collective Agreements define the terms of employment and compensation covering all the important aspects of work life including hours of work, salaries and remuneration, costs of training, wellbeing, safety and leave.

General Practitioners who own or are employed in general practices or urgent care centres and dentists working in private practice are not subject to the Collective Agreements and work on a salaried or fee for service basis with income determined by patient encounters or numbers of registered patients.

The remainder of this article provides a summary of remuneration packages for each level of medical and dental practice. Both medical and dental officers are subject to the Collective Agreements whilst working in the public sector unless the option of an Independent Employment Agreement (IAE) is negotiated with the employer.

Remuneration of Specialists, Fellows and Senior Medical and Dental Officers

Senior salaried doctors and dentists are defined as

• Medical and Dental specialists: must be vocationally registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand or the Dental Council of New Zealand in one or more of the recognised scopes of specialist practice
• Fellows: may hold general or vocational registration and have usually just completed vocational training. Fellowships are short term appointments of 6-12 months for subspecialist training.
• Senior medical and dental officers: hold general registration.

Collectively their interests are represented by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS)which negotiates the best possible salaries, allowances, terms and conditions through collective agreements with Health New Zealand and also offers free advice on new job offers, which is a very useful resource for international doctors and dentists negotiating first job offers in New Zealand.

Remuneration packages negotiated by the ASMS comprise the following components:

1. Basic Salaries for a 40 hour week

• Medical and Dental Specialists (including principal dental officers) - 15 steps starting from NZD 185,380 to NZD 267,980 PA
• Fellows - NZD 179,480 PA
• Medical and Dental Officers-  14 steps starting from NZD 142,683 to NZD 210,933 PA

Part time work is calculated pro-rata.

The initial basic salary for a new specialist or senior medical/dental officer is negotiable with the employer in consultation with the clinical director of the applicable service and is determined by the date the physician or dentist met the requirements for vocational registration (or its overseas equivalent) and not the date when the employee was actually vocationally registered in New Zealand. This is advantageous for international candidates because it recognises the level of relevant qualifications and experience gained in the specialist field in other countries prior to arrival in New Zealand.

Thereafter, advancement through the salary scales is annual, subject to satisfactory performance of agreed duties and responsibilities. The annual anniversary date reflects the anniversary of when the employee first met the requirements for vocational registration (or its overseas equivalent) and not the anniversary of the job commencement date.

2. Out of Hours Payments

The job size is defined as the average weekly number of hours the employee is required to work and includes scheduled clinical activities, non clinical duties and rostered after hours’ on-call duties, telephone consultations and other relevant discussions. Out of hours work is paid at a rate of time-and-a-half the ordinary hourly rate.

3. Availability Allowance

Participation on an after-hours’ roster attracts an availability allowance, the level of which is determined by the following:

• frequency of the call
• immediacy of the required response
• immediacy required for attendance at work
• availability and experience of resident medical and dental officers.

4. Recruitment and Retention Allowance

In health services experiencing challenges with recruitment and retention of doctors and dentists additional allowances may be offered.

5. Special Allowances

The employer may agree to provide additional benefits, including a personal allowance, to any employee who has special skills or responsibilities within a service or who makes a special contribution to their profession or to the employer.

6. Superannuation

The employer makes the required employer contribution in respect of any of the superannuation schemes operated by the National Provident Fund or the Government Superannuation Fund to which an employee belongs or pays a matching subsidy  up to a maximum of 6% of an employee’s gross taxable salary.

7. Reimbursement of Expenses

The employer meets the cost of or reimburses employees for work-related expenses, including:

• the annual practising certificate, including disciplinary levies
• other necessary licences e.g. radiation licence
• Medical Protection Society membership or an agreed alternative
• vocational registration fees relevant to duties and responsibilities with the employer
• college membership fees, where membership of the particular college(s) is necessary for the employee’s employment
• membership of other approved professional associations relevant to the employee’s duties and responsibilities
• fees for accredited maintenance of professional standards (MOPS) or similar programmes
• tuition and other course fees to obtain a vocational scope of practice or other clinical training, approved by the employer. In these situations the employer shall also approve paid leave for the employee to undertake such training. An allowance of NZD16,000 per annum and 10 days study leave is usual.
• vaccinations
• actual and reasonable costs that may be incurred by an employee who is required by their employer to travel out-of-town for meetings, other business or clinical duties.
• Telephone Calls and Rental- Employees who are required to be on call shall be reimbursed the full cost of a standard home telephone rental and all work-related toll calls.
• Car Parking
• Use of Personal Motor Vehicle - Where an employer vehicle is unavailable or its use impractical, employees shall be reimbursed the actual and reasonable costs of using their personal motor vehicle, including when they are required: to travel to and from work outside their normal hours of duty; to travel between workplaces; to undertake any other approved travel.
  

8. Relocation Expenses

The employer and prospective employee negotiate the level of reimbursement of reasonable transfer and relocation expenses prior to appointment. This includes international and domestic flights, shipping of personal goods (up to an agreed limit) and car rental and accommodation for one month on arrival in New Zealand.

9. Shift Work

In Emergency Departments, Intensive Care Units or High Dependency Units, shift work is common. All hours worked between 1900 and 0800 hours Monday to Friday are paid at time and a half of the ordinary hourly rate and all hours worked on weekends or public holidays paid at time and a half of the ordinary hourly rate.

Summary

• The basic salaries are common to all specialties and can be determined by years of specialist experience up to the level of step 15.
• The allowances and out of hours payments vary considerably by speciality and hospital, with highly demanding specialties, shift work and frequent on call duties attracting higher payments.
• Specialists earn in the range of NZD 200,000 - 450,000 per annum, the total figure dependent upon level of experience, on call participation, shift work, special and recruitment / retention allowances.

Remuneration of Resident Medical and Dental Officers (House Officers and Registrars)

Resident medical and dental officers (RMOs and RDOs)are defined as follows:

• House Officers: PGY1 -2
• Senior House Officers: PGY3
• Registrars: PGY4 -10

In some specialties, candidates with the right experience can work as registrars in PGY3 and are therefore paid on the registrar scale. All house officers and registrars hold general registration with the MCNZ and GDC. Collectively their interests are represented by two unions, the New Zealand Resident Doctors Association (NZRDA) and the Specialist Trainees of New Zealand (STONZ) which negotiate employment terms through Collective Agreements with Health New Zealand.

Resident medical and dental officers can select the union they wish to join and accept the appropriate employment terms or negotiate an IEA with the employer directly. Before selecting an option, it is best to review the Collective Agreements which can be downloaded from the union websites because there are differences between the salaries negotiated by the unions.

1 Salaries

Salaries paid to house officers and registrars are determined by level of experience and job category which is based on the expected average hours as set out in the run description.

Here are the current negotiated rates: