Family Violence Leave Calculator NZ 2026
This calculator checks family violence leave entitlement in New Zealand and prices what it costs an employer. You enter how long the person has worked for you, their usual hours and how many days they have already taken this year, and it returns whether they qualify, how many days remain, and the cost of the leave including pay, employer on-costs and cover. The entitlement is up to ten paid days a year, and three things about it are worth being clear on. It is a separate entitlement from sick leave and annual holidays, so using it does not reduce either. It does not carry over, so unused days are lost at the end of the twelve month period rather than banked. And it applies whether the person is affected themselves or is supporting a child who lives with them, regardless of when the violence occurred, including before they started the job. Eligibility is the same six month test that gates sick and bereavement leave: six months of continuous employment, or six months of work averaging at least ten hours a week, whichever fits. An employer can ask for proof, but it does not have to be a police report or a protection order, and a letter from a support agency, doctor or lawyer is enough. There is also a separate right to request a short term change to working arrangements for up to two months, which an employer must answer within ten working days. It is built for employers and managers who want to get this right quickly and quietly.
They qualify: six months of continuous employment is met. This entitlement is separate from sick leave and annual holidays, and unused days do not carry over.
How it works
Eligibility is checked first, on the same six month test that gates sick and bereavement leave: six months of current continuous employment, or six months of work averaging at least ten hours a week. Either one is enough on its own. The annual entitlement is then ten paid days, and the days remaining are ten less whatever has already been taken in the current twelve month period. The cost figure prices the remaining days if they were all taken: the days of pay, the employer KiwiSaver and ACC work levy that ride on that pay, and the cost of covering the shifts. Because the entitlement does not carry over, days not used before the twelve months are up simply lapse, so the liability never accumulates across years the way annual leave does.
Worked example
Someone has worked for you continuously for twelve months at forty hours a week and has taken no family violence leave this year, so all ten days remain. Their daily pay is $240, so ten days is $2,400 of pay, and with employer KiwiSaver at 3.5 percent and an ACC work levy of 0.67 percent that loads to about $2,500. Covering those ten days at $30 an hour for eight hours a day costs another $2,400. If every remaining day were taken the total cost would be about $4,900. Had they already taken four days, six would remain and the figures would scale accordingly.
Related calculators
- Bereavement Leave: 3 days per bereavement, same eligibility test.
- Sick Leave: 10 days a year, same six month test.
- Annual Leave: the four week entitlement.
- Parental Leave Cover: the longest absence you will plan for.
- True Cost of an Employee: where leave sits in the total.