What Do The KiwiSaver Status Codes Mean And When Should I Use Each?

Each employee has a KiwiSaver status that tells Inland Revenue how to treat their membership when payday filing runs. Lightning Payroll exposes the status codes used in the Employee Details submission.

Common status codes

• Active KiwiSaver member: employee is contributing, employer contributions and ESCT apply.
• New employee (auto-enrolled): within the 8 to 56 day opt-out window after starting.
• Opt-out: employee has opted out within the legal window; contributions stop.
• Contributions holiday / Savings suspension: employee has a current suspension from Inland Revenue.
• Non-member: employee is not in KiwiSaver and is not auto-enrol eligible (e.g. casual or under 18).
• Existing KiwiSaver member: employee already had a KiwiSaver account at hire.

Where to set it

1. Open the employee and go to the KiwiSaver tab.
2. Pick the status that matches their situation.
3. Fill in any related fields (opt-out date, savings suspension expiry, contribution rate).
4. Save the employee.

Things to check

• Auto-enrolled new employees move out of the new-employee status automatically once the opt-out window closes.
• If the employee has handed in a KS2 with a different rate, update both the status and the rate at the same time.
• Casual and certain other employees may be ineligible for auto-enrolment; set the status to non-member rather than leaving it blank.

The status feeds the next Employee Details submission so Inland Revenue records stay in sync.