# Pay for sick, bereavement and family violence leave Official source: https://www.employment.govt.nz/pay-and-hours/pay-and-wages/leave-and-holiday-pay/pay-for-sick-bereavement-and-family-violence-leave 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 Pay and hours Pay and wages Holidays and leave pay Pay for sick, bereavement and family violence leave Holidays and leave pay Pay and wages Minimum wage Holidays and leave pay Calculating holiday and leave pay Public holiday pay Annual holiday pay Cashing-up annual holidays Pay-as-you-go annual holiday payments Pay for sick, bereavement and family violence leave Parental leave payments Types of pay Allowances Deductions and premiums Pay periods and paydays Payslips Final pay Setting pay, pay reviews and pay rises Everyone Pay for sick, bereavement and family violence leave Employees can get paid time off for personal needs if they meet certain criteria. Learn how to work out payments for employees on leave. What employees are entitled to Employees are entitled to paid sick Paid time away from work that eligible employees can take to care for themselves, their partners or children, or other dependants. , bereavement 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. and family violence leave Paid time away from work that eligible employees can take if they, or a child who lives with them, are affected by family violence. : after 6 months of continuous employment with the same employer, or if they have worked for the employer for 6 months for an average of 10 hours per week, including at least 1 hour in every week or 40 hours in every month. For more information about leave entitlements, visit: Leave and holidays When employees are paid for sick, bereavement or family violence leave Payment for sick, bereavement, or family violence leave is only made when it is a day that the employee would have worked if they had not been on leave. 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. ’. If the employee works continuously but has an irregular pattern of work, it’s an otherwise working day and they are entitled to paid leave if they: are rostered, or agreed to work, on the day they’re taking leave, or could have expected to have worked or been rostered to work on the day they’re taking leave. If it is not an otherwise working day, then the employee is not entitled to paid leave. For example, if the employee falls sick on a day they are not rostered to work, then they are not entitled to paid sick leave. Pay for sick, bereavement, and family violence leave is made in the normal pay cycle. Otherwise working day An otherwise working day is a day that the employee would have worked had the day not been a public holiday, sick leave, bereavement leave, family violence leave, annual holiday or alternative holiday for that employee. Factors to use to decide whether a day is an otherwise working day [PDF, 310 KB] Calculating pay for leave When an employee takes sick, bereavement, or family violence leave, the employer must pay their relevant daily pay (RDP) 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 (ADP) The daily average of the employee’s total gross earnings over the past 52 weeks. . RDP is the amount the employee would have earned if they had worked on the day in question. It includes the employee’s usual pay plus incentive payments, cash value of board or lodgings provided, overtime, and other regular allowances (except non-taxable reimbursements). ADP is the daily average of the employee’s gross earnings over the past 52 weeks, or weeks they’ve been employed if it’s less than 52 weeks. ADP can only be used if: it’s not possible or practicable to work out RDP, or the employee's daily pay varies in the pay period in question. For information about how to calculate RDP and ADP, and when ADP can be used instead of RDP, visit: Calculating holiday and leave pay Taking a part-day of sick, bereavement or family violence leave The law describes sick, bereavement and family violence leave entitlement in days and does not divide it into part-days or hours. This means that if an employee works for part of the day and then takes the rest of the day off, it can be counted as a using a whole day of leave, no matter how much of the day they worked before going home. Their employer can: deduct a full day of leave entitlement, and pay the employee a full day of RDP (or ADP if applicable). However, employers can agree with employees to take their entitlement as hours or part-days. For example, if an employee works a half-day and then takes the rest of the day off, their employer can agree to: deduct a half-day of the employee’s leave entitlement pay for the time worked, and pay half the employee’s RDP (or ADP if applicable) for the rest of the day. Alternatively, employers can choose to pay the employee for the time worked and a full day of RDP (or ADP if applicable) for a part-day of leave. However, if the employer deducts a full day of sick leave from the employee’s entitlement, they must pay the employee a full day of RDP (or ADP if applicable). When deciding how to apply sick, bereavement, or family violence leave entitlements for part-days, employers should check the 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. and any related leave policies to see what they say. Our Holidays Act 2003 guides provide information about leave and holidays entitlements and pay. Our shorter guide is for employees and employers to help them understand minimum employment entitlements: Leave and holidays: A guide to employees’ legal entitlements [PDF, 2.1 MB] Our longer guide gives detailed, practical guidance for payroll providers and professionals: Holidays Act 2003 guidance [PDF, 1.8 MB] Examples of leave pay James normally works 8 hours Tuesday to Friday and 4 hours on Saturday. If James is sick on Saturday, his employer should pay him his RDP for the sick day, which is 4 hours. If James would have worked 2 hours overtime on Saturday, his sick pay must include payment for the overtime as part of his RDP. Claire’s employment agreement says she gets 1 hour for lunch. However, Claire usually takes only half an hour for lunch at her employer’s request. Instead, she gets an extra half-hour payment each day. If Claire takes bereavement leave, her RDP for the leave day includes the extra half hour she is normally paid, even though it’s not in her employment agreement. Sick leave pay for employees on ACC If an employee is receiving weekly compensation from ACC (for example, after the first week), the employer does not have to pay them sick leave for the same period. Accidental Compensation Act 2001 - New Zealand Legislation (external link) Sick leave pay can be used to top-up ACC payments. For more information, visit: Managing sick leave Published: 29 February 2024 Last modified: 13 January 2025 Written for: Everyone Share this page: Print this page: