Paying for your social workers fees
As an authorised employer, you can pay for registration and/or practising certificates on behalf of your employed social workers by signing an authorised employer agreement.
Becoming an Authorised Employer means that your social workers do not need to manually submit a tax invoice or seek reimbursement from you when applying for a practising certificate or registration.
All Authorised Employers will have access to their own employer portal, where they will be able to:
- access and pay invoices for the practising certificate and/or registration fees of their employed social workers
- make payments by credit or debit card, or by bank transfer. Alternatively, authorised employers can download the invoice from the portal and process payment through their accounts payable system
- view their employees’ registration, practising, and practising certificate renewal status at any time – either tracking live or by receiving a full report.
- easily add or remove social workers under their employment by advising us of changes so we can update their records.
An employer can apply to become an Authorised Employer by completing a contract and the template for sending us the list of social workers in your employ and sending them to us at employerqueries@swrb.govt.nz.
Documents:
Additional information
Practising Certificates will not be issued to social workers before payment has been received
Please note that practising certificates will not be issued before payment is received. This means that for the practising year which starts on 1 July, all payments will need to be received and processed by 30 June. It is illegal to practise social work without a current practising certificate.
You will be asked to confirm the list of social workers currently in your employment in advance. The dates for finalising details are in the agreement.
The difference between a Registration and Practising Certificate fee
The registration application fee for social workers is a one-off fee, whereas Practising Certificates must be renewed annually. The charge for the Practising Certificate is made up of two parts – the Practising Certificate fee and the Disciplinary Levy.
Once registered, social workers will remain on the register unless they ask to be taken off, or the SWRB Board takes action to de-register them as a result of a complaint. Currently employed social workers should already be registered with the SWRB.
Each year, practising social workers are required to renew their practising certificate if they are working as a social worker in Aotearoa New Zealand. Practising certificates expire at the end of June each year. It is the social worker’s responsibility to renew their practising certificate, and ensure they have a current practising certificate to practise. It is illegal to practise social work without a current practising certificate.
Confirming the invoice amount
Authorised Employers will be invoiced for Practising Certificate fees based on the list of employed social workers in early May. You can view and export invoices from the employer portal.
Practising Certificate invoices will be sent, via email, every two weeks during the practising certificate renewal periods. The invoice all social workers who have renewed their practising certificate since the last invoice to you.
We will be in touch with employers to confirm the list of employed social workers is correct and confirm the costs. If the information is incorrect, amendments can be made up until 10 May, by emailing SWRB at employerqueries@swrb.govt.nz.
What happens once the invoice is paid
Once the SWRB receives payment for the invoice, we will automatically allocate the payment to the relevant social workers’ practising certificate and/or registration fees.
Employers who want to pay for any additional practising certificate fees (for example, for new employees) after 10 May, should contact us to confirm details. A separate invoice may need to be raised depending on the timing in the run up to 1 July.
For practising certificate renewal, social workers log on to their MySWRB portal via the following link https://my.swrb.govt.nz/. When they get to the payment page, they will receive a message saying that their employer is paying.
Registered Social workers employed by Authorised Employers who have completed their practising declaration will be able to download their practising certificates on 1 July.
What being an Authorised Employer means for paying registration fees
The employer can indicate in the agreement if they wish to pay for their social workers’ registration fees. Invoices for registration fees will be invoiced monthly through the year for all new registrations during that month. For social workers employed by an Authorised Employer who is paying for their registration, their registration application will automatically be treated as paid at the point of application. This makes their application process faster. The SWRB will invoice the Authorised Employer directly.
What being an Authorised Employer means for your social worker/s
When applying for a practising certificate or registration, the social worker will no longer need to manually submit an invoice to you or personally make a payment and later seek reimbursement from you. Their application can be processed as soon as payment is made by you.. It can reduce the time spent on administration for payment and seeking reimbursement.
Please note that from 2024, the social worker will not themselves be able to generate an invoice for you to pay as their employer. This is a change from previous years.
How much does it cost?
Fees and the Disciplinary Levy are due to increase following the Board decision on Fees and Levy 2024. Read more about the Board’s decision: Social Workers Registration Board Decision on fees and levy changes 2024
Details of fees can be found on our Fees and funding page: Fees and funding | Social Workers Registration Board (swrb.govt.nz)
Authorised Employers list
You can view a list of organisations who have joined the Authorised Employers scheme for the 2024/25 practising year.
