Holidays Act 2003

The Holidays Act sets out the minimum number of holidays an employee is allowed annually. These include annual leave, public holidays, and special leave. There are record keeping requirements.

From 1 April 2007, New Zealand employees are entitled to four weeks’ paid annual leave after they have been employed full time with the same employer for one year. Part-time, casual, and fixed-term employees are entitled to a proportion of this leave calculated on the basis of their own work arrangements. Before this date, full-time employees were entitled to three weeks per year.

The Department of Labour has useful publications and www.dol.govt.nz has information about the statutory requirements for holidays.

If an employee’s job is terminated before they have used their annual leave entitlement, they can receive payment in lieu of the owed leave.

If an employee works on a public holiday, they are entitled to a minimum payment of time and a half. Employment agreements may provide for better. The employee is entitled to the greater of:

• their daily pay less any penal rates, plus half that amount again; or

• their daily pay, which includes any penal rates under their employment agreement.

Penal rates are for working on a public holiday, Saturday, or Sunday.

Bereavement leave is covered separately under the Act.

Often, employment agreements make more generous provision for leave entitlements than the Act. Where they do, the provisions in the agreement will stand.