New Zealand has a set of public holidays each year, including the well-known ones like Christmas, New Year, Waitangi Day, ANZAC Day, and the regional anniversary days. The Holidays Act sets special pay rules for these days, and they are some of the most misunderstood rules in employment. Whether you work or not, and whether the day is one you would normally work, both change what you are owed.
Almost every public holiday question comes back to whether the day was one you would otherwise have worked. For someone on a fixed Monday to Friday roster, this is easy. For people with irregular or rotating rosters, it takes a closer look at the pattern of work.
To work out whether a day is an otherwise working day, the employer and employee look at things like the employment agreement, the actual pattern of work, rosters, and what would have happened but for the public holiday. If you would normally have worked that day, it is an otherwise working day.
If you work on a public holiday, you must be paid at least time and a half for the hours worked. Time and a half is calculated on your relevant rate, so it is a genuine premium for working the day.
If you work on a public holiday that is an otherwise working day, you also earn an alternative day off, sometimes called a day in lieu. This is a whole paid day off you can take later by agreement, regardless of how many hours you worked on the public holiday. If the public holiday was not an otherwise working day, you get time and a half but no alternative day.
| Scenario | Pay for the day | Alternative day? |
|---|---|---|
| Off, otherwise working day | Normal day pay | No (you did not work) |
| Work, otherwise working day | At least time and a half | Yes |
| Work, not an otherwise working day | At least time and a half | No |
Some public holidays are Mondayised. If certain holidays fall on a weekend, the public holiday moves to the following Monday for people who do not normally work weekends, so the benefit is not lost. This is why the observed date can differ from the calendar date.
The end-of-year period has several public holidays close together, and many workplaces also have a closedown. During a closedown, public holidays are still paid under the normal rules, while other days may be taken as annual leave by agreement. This cluster is a common source of payroll confusion, so it is worth checking your payslip in January.
If a public holiday falls while you are on annual leave, it is still treated as a public holiday, not annual leave, so it should not reduce your annual leave balance. Similar logic applies if you are sick on a public holiday that is an otherwise working day.
Employment New Zealand publishes the list of public holidays, the Mondayisation rules, and the official guidance. Use our Public Holiday Pay Calculator to estimate what you are owed.
Final word: public holiday pay turns on the otherwise working day test. Get that right and the rest follows: paid for a day off, time and a half for working, and an alternative day when the holiday was a normal working day. This is general information, not legal advice; check the current rules.
Quiz on Public Holiday Pay (20 Questions)
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