Authorised Employer

As an authorised employer, you can be invoiced and pay fees on behalf of your employed social workers by signing an Authorised Employer Agreement.

All SWRB authorised employers are able to:

  • Receive fortnightly consolidated invoices for their employed social workers Practising Certificate and registration fees.
  • Pay invoices via bank transfer (not available to individuals), or via credit/debit card within their authorised employer account.
  • View their employees’ registration, practising, and practising certificate renewal status at any time via their Authorised Employer account.
  • Choose which fees they want to be billed for when joining the authorised employer scheme.
  • Add or remove social workers from their billing list by advising us of any changes, either via their authorised employer account, or by having an authorised contact email us. Social workers are not able to add themselves to an authorised employers account.

How to become an SWRB authorised employer

To apply to become an authorised employer please complete the below contract agreement and employee list and send to us at employerqueries@swrb.govt.nz

Documents:

Authorised Employer Agreement

Employer Social Worker List - Template

Additional information

  • Authorised employers need to confirm their list of social workers they employ by the dates for outlined in the agreement.
  • 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 (PC), and ensure they have a current Practising Certificate to practise. 
  • Practising Certificates will not be issued until payment has been received.
  • If there is outstanding Practising Certificate (PC) debt with the SWRB from a previous round of PC renewals, we will be unable to renew your Practising Certificates for 2025/26 until that debt is resolved.
  • It is illegal to practise social work without a current Practising Certificate.

What being connected with 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 seek reimbursement from you.
  • For practising certificate renewal, your social workers simply logs into their MySWRB portal to complete their declaration, when they get to the payment page, they will receive a message saying that their employer is paying on their behalf.
  • If they do not see this message their MySWRB account has not been connected to your Authorised Employer account, please contact us directly at employerqueries@swrb.govt.nz so we can connect them, they will not be able to add themselves to your billing.
  • Social workers can remove themselves from their Authorised Employers billing if they change what is listed in their employer field. 
  • Registered social workers employed by Authorised Employers (who have completed their practising declaration) will be able to download their practising certificates as soon as payment is received.

Changes from previous years

  • Social workers that are not connected to an Authorised Employer are prompted to pay within their MySWRB account.
  • Social workers will not be able to generate an invoice addressed to their employer to pass on for payment.
  • Bank transfer payments options are now only offered to Authorised Employers, social workers will need to pay via their MySWRB portal.

Authorised employer finance information

  • Consolidated invoices will be sent to authorised employers via email every two weeks if any billing has been generated in the two weeks prior.
  • Statements will be sent monthly for any outstanding billing.
  • The SWRB will not invoice for social workers practising certificates until they have completed their practising declaration. All social workers will still need to complete their practising declaration via their own MySWRB account in order to renew their Practising Certificate each year.
  • Practising Certificates will not be issued to social workers until payment has been received.
  • Payments made via credit or debit card are matched at time of payment automatically.
  • Payments received by the SWRB via bank transfer will be manually allocated to the relevant social workers’ fees based on reference or remittance.
  • Only Practising Certificate and registration fees can be automatically billed to an authorised employer from connected social workers accounts. Contact us directly to connect other invoices to your billing eg: Experience Pathway Registration Application Fees. 

The difference between a Registration and Practising Certificate fee

  • The registration application fee for social workers is a one-off fee.
  • 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 request 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.

How much does it cost?

Fees and the Disciplinary Levy increased following the Board decision on 23 February 2024 on Fees and Levy for 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)