Employees
Public holidays rights for employees
An employee is entitled to a paid day off if a public holiday falls on a day they would otherwise be working.
On this page
- What you’re entitled to
- Penal rates
- Working on a public holiday
- When you must work
- Shift work on a public holiday
- Shifts split across a public holiday and a normal day
- Being on call during a public holiday
- Transferring a public holiday
- When a public holiday falls on a weekend
- When you take the day off
- Public holidays when you're on leave
- ACC payments
- Public holidays and other leave events during a period of leave without pay
What you’re entitled to
You are entitled to a paid day off if a falls on a normal working day for you. This is called an ‘ ’.
An otherwise working day is a day that you would have been working had the day not been a public holiday, , , family violence leave, or for you.
You are entitled to a maximum of 12 public holidays a year, with the following conditions:
- you cannot claim 2 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 you
Public holidays falling on a weekend
- you are not entitled to more than 4 public holidays over the Christmas and New Year period, regardless of your work pattern you can only claim one regional Anniversary Day per year – for example, if you are usually based in Auckland but are temporarily based in Wellington, you and the employer should agree which Anniversary Day will be observed. If you cannot reach an agreement, you are entitled to observe the anniversary of the province that you usually work in.
Penal rates
A ‘penal rate’ is an additional amount, usually specified in an , that you, as an employee will be paid for working on a particular day or type of day. For example, an additional rate for working on Saturdays or Sundays, or a special public holiday rate.
Working on a public holiday
If you work on a public holiday, you must be paid at least the higher rate of:
- your for the time worked on the day, not including any penal rates, plus half that amount again (time and a half), or
- your relevant daily pay for the time worked on the day, plus the penal rates in their employment agreement.
You must also be given an if it's a day you would otherwise be working – unless you are employed only to work on public holidays.
If you work on a public holiday, your employer must give you an alternative holiday (also called a ‘day in lieu’) if the day the holiday falls is an ‘ ’ for you – unless you are employed only to work on public holidays.
When you must work
Your employer can only make you work on a public holiday if:
- it falls on a day that you would have otherwise worked, and
- your employment agreement says you have to work on the public holiday.
If you are required to work on a public holiday that does not fall within your agreed and guaranteed hours, this must be covered by an availability clause in your
If you have an availability clause, your employer must:
- have genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds for including the clause in your employment agreement, and for requiring you to be available on the public holiday, and
- give you reasonable compensation for being available to work.
Shift work on a public holiday
If you work a shift that falls on a public holiday, you must be paid at least time and a half for the actual hours worked on the public holiday.
If the public holiday is an otherwise working day for you, you also get an alternative holiday – even if only part of your shift fell on the public holiday.
Shifts split across a public holiday and a normal day
Generally, a public holiday runs from midnight to midnight, so if you work on any part of the public holiday (and it is an ‘ ’ for you) you are entitled to an (as well as time and a half for the time actually worked on the public holiday).
Being on call during a public holiday
If, on a day you would otherwise be working, you:
- are called out, you are entitled to at least time and a half for the time worked – plus an
- have to limit your activities on the day to the extent that you have not enjoyed a full holiday – for example, if you are required to stay at home all day, but are not called out – you are entitled to an alternative holiday
- are on call, but do not have to limit activities – for example, if you can choose not to accept a call-out – you only get an alternative holiday if you accept a call-out; you also get paid time and a half while you're on the call-out
- are on call but are not called out, or choose not to accept the call-out, you are entitled to your or for the public holiday.
Transferring a public holiday
In some circumstances, you can agree with your employer to transfer your public holiday to a different day.
When a public holiday falls on a weekend
If a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday and you do not usually work on the weekends, the holiday will be transferred to the next working day – typically a Monday, but sometimes a Tuesday. This is called ‘Mondayisation’.
When you take the day off
When you take a public holiday as a day off work, you must be paid what you would have earned if you had worked that day – your ‘ ’ – or, if it is not possible in practice for your employer to do so, your ‘ ’ – a daily average of your gross earnings over the past 52 weeks.
An employer can also choose to use your average daily pay if your daily pay varies within the pay period in which the holiday falls.
Public holidays when you're on leave
These scenarios show what happens when a public holiday falls when you’re on leave.
ACC payments
ACC weekly compensation payments are calculated on a weekly basis and cover time away from work due to an injury.
If you’re paid for any public holidays while receiving ACC weekly compensation, your payment for that week may be affected. You need to let know if any income, including for a public holiday, is paid during a period of weekly compensation in case it affects how much compensation ACC can pay you.
Public holidays and other leave events during a period of leave without pay
If a public holiday falls during a period when an employee is taking leave without pay, they do not receive any payment for the public holiday. This is because it would not be a day that they would otherwise be working had it not been a public holiday.
For the same reason, they may not be entitled to sick leave or bereavement leave during a period of leave without pay because it would not be a day they would otherwise be working. There are some exceptions to this, so it’s important to work out whether the day is an for them.
For example, they may be on leave without pay because they’re sick and do not have enough sick leave. If a public holiday falls within a period of leave without pay, on a day that you would have worked (if you had not been sick, and it was not a public holiday), they would be entitled to payment for the public holiday.