- By Citizens Advice Bureau Pakuranga
Here comes the holiday season! Are you ready?
With the holidays season fast approaching, now’s a good time to start preparing.
Here’s some information to help.
Entitlements and conditions
All employees are entitled to a maximum of 12 public holidays a year. However, an employee:
- Cannot claim two public holidays if a public holiday is ‘Mondayised’ (one for the actual date and one for the Mondayised date) even if both are otherwise working days for them.
- Cannot be entitled to more than four public holidays over the Christmas and New Year period, regardless of their work pattern.
- Can claim only one Anniversary Day per year. For example, if an employee normally works in Auckland but is temporarily based in Wellington, you and the employee should agree which Anniversary Day will be observed.
If you cannot reach an agreement, the employee is entitled to observe the anniversary of the province in which they usually work.
When employees work on a public holiday
If an employee works on a public holiday, they must be:
- Paid at least time and a half for the hours they work.
- Given an alternative holiday (also known as a ‘day in lieu’) if it’s a day they’d otherwise be working, unless they are employed only to work on public holidays.
An employee is entitled to an alternative holiday, even if only part of their shift fell on the public holiday.
Generally, a public holiday runs from midnight to midnight, so if an employee works on any part of the public holiday (and it is an ‘otherwise working day’ for them) they’re entitled to an alternative holiday, as well as at least time and a half for the time actually worked on the public holiday.
- This Solutions Column has been compiled by Vani and is a regular Times editorial from the Pakuranga Citizens Advice Bureau. Email enquiries.pakuranga@cab.org.nz or Visit us at the library building, Pakuranga, phone 576 8331, and at Botany Citizens Advice Bureau, rear food court entrance, Botany Town Centre, phone 271 5382 , text/call WhatsApp 028 438 2188 or 0800 367 222 for free, confidential and informative help.
