Polyglot Group review: Employer of Record and payroll in New Zealand
A Sydney HR, payroll and recruitment firm founded in 1995 by Corinne Bot, registered in New Zealand as an overseas company since 2015. Its New Zealand payroll page names payday filing, KiwiSaver and ACC, which puts it ahead of several rivals on paper. We verified the entity and scored the service on our eight criteria: competent, human-led, Australian-run, with no price and no New Zealand office.
A boutique Australian HR firm that does New Zealand payroll properly on paper, from Sydney, at an undisclosed price.
Polyglot Group began as a one-person recruitment venture in Sydney in 1995 and is still run by its founder, Corinne Bot, with family members in senior roles and a team of around 56 by its own count, working in 28 languages. It sells recruitment, HR outsourcing, payroll and what it calls employment outsourcing, its term for Employer of Record, for Australia and New Zealand only. Its New Zealand payroll page is more specific than most: payday filing, KiwiSaver compliance, ACC and regulatory filings are listed by name, with data held on a server in Australia. What it lacks is a New Zealand presence: the entity is the Australian company registered here as an overseas company, the address is a corporate-services agent on Queen Street, and every named payroll and client contact sits in Sydney. The Holidays Act is never mentioned, no price is published, and the only reviews are from employees, including a critical one from September 2026. A reasonable choice for an Australian or European company that already uses Polyglot and wants one New Zealand hire handled by the same people; not a reason on its own to pick it over a provider with a New Zealand company and a price list.
Choose Polyglot Group if you are already a Polyglot client in Australia or Europe, value a single human point of contact in your language, and have one or two New Zealand hires to add. Look elsewhere if you want a New Zealand-incorporated employer, a published price, New Zealand-based staff, a documented Holidays Act method or a sponsored work visa.
Who actually employs your staff: an Australian company registered in New Zealand
The register shows Polyglot Group Pty Limited (NZBN 9429041640142, New Zealand company number 5622869), an Australian private company (ACN 088 338 523) registered in New Zealand as an overseas ASIC company on 9 March 2015. It is current, with an annual return filed on 9 October 2026. There is no New Zealand-incorporated Polyglot subsidiary.
The sole director on the record is founder Corinne Bot; shareholdings are not filed for overseas companies, so ownership cannot be confirmed from the New Zealand register. The principal place of business is care of CSNZ, a corporate-services agent at Level 5, 79 Queen Street, Auckland, after earlier addresses at a Manukau bank branch, a Wellington apartment and a Kohimarama flat. That history is consistent with no staffed New Zealand office.
| Register field | What the New Zealand Companies Register shows |
|---|---|
| NZBN | 9429041640142 |
| NZ company number | 5622869 |
| Entity type | Overseas ASIC company (Australian private company registered in NZ), country of origin Australia, ACN 088 338 523 |
| Registered in NZ | 9 March 2015; annual return filed 9 October 2026 |
| Principal place of business in NZ | c/- CSNZ, Level 5, 79 Queen Street, Auckland 1010 (corporate-services agent) |
| Director | Corinne Bot (sole director, data supplied by ASIC) |
| Shareholders | Not filed (not required for an overseas company); ultimate holding company not verifiable from the NZ register |
| Previous NZ addresses | Manukau (2015), Te Aro, Wellington (2015–2019), Kohimarama, Auckland (2019–2021) |
| Immigration NZ accreditation | Could not be checked by NZBN at the time of writing; no AEWV or NZ visa service offered (visa sponsorship is Australia-only) |
Register fields read on 24 October 2026 at app.companiesoffice.govt.nz. Ask Polyglot which entity signs your New Zealand employment agreement and whether any New Zealand-based staff are involved in delivery.
Eight criteria, the same for every provider
- New Zealand payroll page names payday filing, KiwiSaver compliance, ACC and regulatory filings, which several larger rivals do not
- Founder-led since 1995 with a stable leadership team and recognised founder (Legion of Honour, Telstra and EY awards)
- Human service model: one dedicated contact, 28 languages in-house, useful for European parents hiring in New Zealand
- EOR, payroll, HR advisory, recruitment and business setup available from one firm for Australia and New Zealand
- Verified New Zealand EOR client in Dialpad, which moved Australia to its own entity and kept New Zealand on Polyglot
- Not a New Zealand company: an Australian Pty Ltd registered here as an overseas company, at an agent's address
- No pricing published for any service
- No New Zealand office or staff identified; payroll data held in Australia
- Holidays Act 2003 is never mentioned on the New Zealand pages
- No client reviews on Google, Trustpilot or G2; employee reviews are mixed, including a critical September 2026 Glassdoor review
- Own pages disagree on footprint ("6 countries and 12 cities" versus "5 countries and 6 cities")
What Polyglot Group says it handles for a New Zealand employee
| Obligation | Status | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Employment agreement | Handled | Polyglot becomes the local employer; full-time, part-time and fixed-term supported; terminations handled under local law |
| Holidays Act 2003 | Unverified | Not mentioned on any New Zealand page |
| KiwiSaver | Handled | "KiwiSaver compliance" listed on the NZ payroll page |
| ACC levies | Handled | "ACC" listed on the NZ payroll page |
| Payday filing to IRD | Handled | "Payday Filing" listed on the NZ payroll page |
| Accredited Employer Work Visa | Not offered | Not offered; Polyglot's visa sponsorship is for Australia only |
| HR and recruitment | Offered | HR outsourcing, HR advisory, recruitment and business setup for NZ |
What you actually pay for one NZ$90,000 hire
Polyglot publishes no fees; its payroll page promises all-inclusive pricing with no surprises but gives no figures, and a competitor comparison lists it as custom-priced. The example below shows statutory costs only.
| Line item (monthly) | NZ$ |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | 7,500 |
| KiwiSaver employer contribution (3.5%) | 263 |
| ACC work levy (approx., office class) | 55 |
| Polyglot service fee | Quote only |
| Statutory employer cost before the fee | 7,818 |
- Employment, payroll processing, payslips and reporting
- Payday filing, KiwiSaver and ACC administration
- One dedicated point of contact and ongoing advice
- Fee level, currency and minimum term
- New Zealand visa sponsorship
- Holidays Act calculation method
Illustrative. Get the fee, the signing entity, the payroll location and the leave calculation method in writing before signing.
If Polyglot Group is not the fit
RemotePeople
Lowest published rate, a New Zealand limited company it owns and a documented onboarding timeline.
Read our RemotePeople reviewANZPEO (formerly NZ PEO)
The closest comparison: Australian-run boutique with named staff, and on Immigration NZ's accredited employer list.
Read our ANZPEO reviewEmployment Hero
Strongest Holidays Act tooling of the ten and an Auckland office.
Read our Employment Hero reviewCommon questions about Polyglot Group in New Zealand
Does Polyglot Group have a New Zealand company?
Does Polyglot handle New Zealand payroll compliance?
What does Polyglot charge?
Where is Polyglot's New Zealand team?
Not sure Polyglot Group is the one?
Answer five questions about headcount, timeline and budget, and we'll shortlist the three NZ EORs that fit.
How this review was made
Scored on the same eight criteria as every provider on NZEORHub. Entity status and director were read from the New Zealand Companies Register on 24 October 2026; service descriptions from thepolyglotgroup.com's New Zealand pages; ratings from Glassdoor and Indeed. Polyglot Group did not pay for this review and did not see it before publication.
Sources: New Zealand Companies Register (company 5622869) · thepolyglotgroup.com New Zealand EOR, payroll, HR and business-setup pages and Dialpad case study · EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women profile · 25th anniversary press release (FACCI) · Glassdoor and Indeed · Employment Hero and Borderless comparison guides, read 24 October 2026.