Answer
On a final pay, Lightning Payroll only deducts KiwiSaver from items that count as wages. Redundancy and retirement payments are excluded, so they do not generate employee or employer KiwiSaver contributions or ESCT.
What does trigger KiwiSaver on a final pay
- Unused annual holidays cashed out at termination.
- The 8% accrual portion.
- Unused alternative holidays paid out.
- Payment in lieu of notice (treated as wages).
- Ordinary wages for the final pay period.
What does not
- Redundancy payments.
- Retirement payments.
- Other ex gratia lump sums entered in the additional termination amount field.
How the termination dialog handles this
In the desktop app, open the employee's pay and launch the Termination dialog. When you set the Employment Finish Date and enter a redundancy amount, the dialog recalculates KiwiSaver and ESCT using only the wages-like components. The dialog notes that redundancy payments are extra pay for PAYE but are not salary or wages for KiwiSaver.
In the online (web/mobile) app, open the employee's pay and click Employment Finish (NZ). Set the Employment finish date and enter any redundancy amount in the Redundancy field. Termination calculations will refresh automatically. If the employee's KiwiSaver line looks lower than expected, the redundancy or retirement amount is the reason.
If you need to override the calculated KiwiSaver amount for an unusual case, you can adjust the KiwiSaver pay item manually before saving the pay.
