# Public holidays rights for employees Official source: https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/public-holidays/public-holidays-rights-for-employees Scanned: 2026-06-07T03:31:31.402Z Use this as a current official guidance reference, not as a substitute for legal advice. ## Page Text Home Leave and holidays Public holidays Public holidays rights for employees Public holidays Leave and holidays Public holidays Public holidays and anniversary dates Previous years: Public holidays and anniversary dates Managing public holidays as an employer Public holidays rights for employees Transferring a public holiday Alternative holidays When a public holiday falls on a weekend Restricted trading days for shops Working and trading on Easter Sunday Annual holidays Sick leave Bereavement leave Parental leave Family violence leave Jury service leave Employment Relations Education leave Time off to vote Defence force volunteers Other types of leave 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. What you’re entitled to You are entitled to a paid day off if a public holiday An observed day of national, religious, or cultural significance. Special payment rates and entitlements apply to public holidays. falls on a normal working day for you. This is called an ‘ otherwise working day A day that the employee would have worked had it not been a public holiday, sick leave, bereavement leave, family violence leave, annual holiday or an alternative holiday for that employee. ’. An otherwise working day is a day that you would have been working had the day not been a public holiday, sick leave Paid time away from work that eligible employees can take to care for themselves, their partners or children, or other dependants. , bereavement leave Paid time away from work that gives an eligible employee time to grieve and to take care of matters if someone close to them dies. It can be taken at any time and for any purpose relating to the bereavement. , family violence leave, annual holiday Paid time away from work for rest and recreation. or alternative holiday A paid day off to take at another time. Employees get an alternative holiday when they work on a public holiday that is an otherwise working day. 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. Public holiday and anniversary dates Penal rates A ‘penal rate’ is an additional amount, usually specified in an employment agreement A written document setting out the terms and conditions of employment agreed by the employer and employee (also known as a ‘contract of service’). It can include other contractual documents and agreements made by the employer and employee. Every employee must have a written employment agreement. , 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. Public holiday pay Working on a public holiday If you work on a public holiday, you must be paid at least the higher rate of: your relevant daily pay The amount an employee would have been paid if they’d worked on a public holiday, alternative holiday, or on a day they took sick leave, family violence leave or bereavement leave. 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. Public holiday pay You must also be given an alternative holiday A paid day off to take at another time. Employees get an alternative holiday when they work on a public holiday that is an otherwise working day. if it's a day you would otherwise be working – unless you are employed only to work on public holidays. Alternative 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 ‘ otherwise working day A day that the employee would have worked had it not been a public holiday, sick leave, bereavement leave, family violence leave, annual holiday or an alternative holiday for that employee. ’ for you – unless you are employed only to work on public holidays. Time and a half on a public holiday You cannot be paid less than time and a half for working on a public holiday, but you can be paid more if this has been agreed to by your employer. 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 employment agreement. A written document setting out the terms and conditions of employment agreed by the employer and employee (also known as a ‘contract of service’). It can include other contractual documents and agreements made by the employer and employee. Every employee must have a written employment agreement. 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. Working overtime or extra shifts 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 ‘ otherwise working day A day that the employee would have worked had it not been a public holiday, sick leave, bereavement leave, family violence leave, annual holiday or an alternative holiday for that employee. ’ for you) you are entitled to an alternative holiday A paid day off to take at another time. Employees get an alternative holiday when they work on a public holiday that is an otherwise working day. (as well as time and a half for the time actually worked on the public holiday). Sean works an 8-hour shift from 7pm Sunday to 3am Monday – Monday being a public holiday and a day he would normally work (an ‘otherwise working day’). He is entitled to: 5 hours at his normal Sunday rate of pay for the hours 7pm to 12am, and at least time and a half at his relevant daily pay rate (or average daily pay, if applicable) for the 3 hours he worked on the Monday an alternative holiday. Tom works 8 hours from 10pm Christmas Day to 6am on Boxing Day and both are otherwise working days for him. He gets: 8 hours pay of at least time and a half, and 2 alternative holidays (one each for Christmas and Boxing Day). Dianne works from 10pm Christmas Eve to 6am on Christmas Day, and Christmas Day is an otherwise working day for her. She works the same shift beginning on Christmas night, finishing at 6am on Boxing Day. Dianne gets: 2 hours pay at ordinary time (for Christmas Eve), and 6 hours pay of at least time and a half for the first shift, and 8 hours pay of at least time and a half for the second shift, and 2 alternative holidays (one each for Christmas Day and Boxing Day). Helen works an 8-hour shift starting on ANZAC Day at 10pm and ANZAC Day is an otherwise working day for her. She gets: 2 hours pay of at least time and a half, and 6 hours pay at the normal hourly rate, and an alternative holiday. Alternatively, Helen and her employer could agree to transfer the public holiday so that it covers one whole shift. Transferring a 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 alternative holiday A paid day off to take at another time. Employees get an alternative holiday when they work on a public holiday that is an otherwise working day. 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 relevant daily pay The amount an employee would have been paid if they’d worked on a public holiday, alternative holiday, or on a day they took sick leave, family violence leave or bereavement leave. or average daily pay The daily average of the employee’s total gross earnings over the past 52 weeks. for the public holiday. Alternative holidays The employee will not be entitled to an alternative holiday if they are employed to work, or be on call, only on public holidays. Public holiday pay Transferring a public holiday In some circumstances, you can agree with your employer to transfer your public holiday to a different day. Transferring a public holiday 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’. Public holidays falling on a weekend 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 ‘ relevant daily pay The amount an employee would have been paid if they’d worked on a public holiday, alternative holiday, or on a day they took sick leave, family violence leave or bereavement leave. ’ – or, if it is not possible in practice for your employer to do so, your ‘ average daily pay The daily average of the employee’s total gross earnings over the past 52 weeks. ’ – 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 holiday pay Public holidays when you're on leave These scenarios show what happens when a public holiday falls when you’re on leave. If your workplace has a closedown period that includes public holidays – for example, over the Christmas and New Year period – you are entitled to a paid public holiday if you would have worked that day had there not been a closedown. Annual closedowns and holidays If you are on annual holidays Paid time away from work for rest and recreation. (also called annual leave) when there’s a public holiday, you are paid for the public holiday if you would otherwise have worked on that day. You do not use a day of annual holidays. Taking annual holidays Example – ANZAC Day falls during a period of annual holidays Julie works full-time Monday to Friday. She takes 2 weeks’ annual holidays from 16 to 30 April, during which time ANZAC Day falls. Julie must be paid her relevant daily pay or average daily pay for the ANZAC Day public holiday and does not lose a day of annual holidays. If ANZAC day were to fall on a weekend, as Julie doesn’t work weekends, ANZAC Day would be Mondayised for her. Your employer does not have to pay you for any public holiday that falls when you're on parental leave, as you would not have been working on that day. If you are getting a parental leave payment during a week when there is a public holiday, the payment is not affected by the public holiday. Taking parental leave If you would have worked on a public holiday but could not because you were sick, injured (or had a spouse, partner or dependant who was sick or injured), affected by family violence (if entitled to family violence leave), or suffering a bereavement, the day is treated as a paid unworked public holiday. That means: you should be paid your relevant daily pay or average daily pay for the day of the public holiday you are not entitled to time and a half or an alternative holiday because you did not work on the day the day is treated as a public holiday and not taken off your balance of sick leave, bereavement leave or family violence leave. Sick leave Bereavement leave Family violence leave Your employer is not normally required to pay you for any public holiday that falls when you're on planned unpaid leave, as you would not have otherwise been working on that day. Leave without pay Your employer is required to pay you for an unworked public holiday when it falls on a day you would otherwise have worked. Generally, an employer would not have to pay you for a public holiday while you’re on ACC, as these are not days you would have worked. However, should you get injured, it’s likely that any public holiday in the following week that would have be