About 1200 community support workers will continue industrial action after pay negotiations failed on Tuesday.
Care workers earn a starting rate of just above the minimum wage of $12 an hour.
Their union, the Public Service Association, wants that to increase to $15 an hour, but their employer, NZ Care, is offering just 19c an hour extra.
It says contingency care plans are in place while industrial action continues.
Industrial action includes bans on non-urgent paperwork, double shifts and transporting residents unless in a medical emergency.
No date has been set for further mediation.
