Home      Contact      Index      FAQ's      Leave      Case Law      Purchase
Public Holiday Worked

Other Leave Sections
  Holidays Act 2003   Public Holiday Worked   Annual Holiday Payments   Time Bank
  Public Holiday Entitlements   Alternative Holidays   Sick Leave   Holiday & Leave Contents
  Public Holiday Taken   Annual Holiday Entitlements   Bereavement Leave  

Use this method for an employee who works at any time on a public holiday.

The method is accessed by clicking the Leave button on the Pay Calculation screen, then selecting Public Holiday Worked.



The following screen is shown

 

In the above screen note

  • you are paying an employee for working on a public holiday.

  • all New Zealand public holidays within the pay period are shown.

  • for each public holiday day worked, click the Keyboard icon and process the payment for that day.

  • each day must be processed individually, because the data you enter may differ on a day by day basis.

  • for example, if there are two public holidays in the same pay period, and the employee worked on both of them, it is possible they are only entitled to an Alternative Holiday for working on one of the days.



On clicking the Keyboard icon for each day worked, the following screen is shown


Note the above screen relates to a single day. The date, day of the week, and a description of the public holiday, is shown at the top of the screen.

For each public holiday day, there are three decisions required.



Allow Alternative Holiday

An employee is entitled to another day's holiday (an alternative holiday) instead of a public holiday if

  • The public holiday falls on a day that would otherwise be a working day for the employee; and

  • The employee works (in accordance with his or her employment agreement) on any part of that day.

  • An employee is not entitled to an alternative holiday if the employee works for the employer only on public holidays.

To allow an alternative holiday, simply click the cross - it then turns in to a tick.



Payment For Time Worked

  • Click the Keyboard icon to enter the ordinary time payment for time worked.

  • The 50% loading for time and a half is added separately.



Add 50% Loading

Tick the cross on this field to add the 50% loading.

  • If an employee works (in accordance with his or her employment agreement) on any part of a public holiday, the employer must pay the employee at least the portion of the employee's relevant daily pay that relates to the time actually worked on the day plus half that amount again.

  • When ticked, this field automatically adds 50% to the payment for time worked.

If an employee does not normally work on the day that the Public Holiday falls but works the Public Holiday are they entitled to an alternative holiday?
In this situation, the employee must be paid time and a half for the time worked on the Public Holiday, but is not entitled to an alternative holiday.

This is set out in Section 48(1)(b) which we repeat here for clarity:



(1) If a public holiday falls on a day that would not otherwise be a working day for an employee, section 46 (entitlement to public holidays) is complied with if


(a) the employee does not work on the day; or

(b) the employee works on any part of the day and the employer pays the employee in accordance with section 50 (time and a half for time worked).




Think of it this way. The employee has not "lost" their paid public holiday, because they did not have it to begin with. Because they have not lost their paid public holiday, you are not required to give them an alternative paid holiday to replace it.

If I have someone working on a public holiday, and they start at 10pm on the public holiday and work till 5am, do I have to pay them at time and a half for the whole day?
In the circumstances you describe, and in the absence of an Employment Agreement that provides something different, you are required to


  • Pay the employee time and a half for the 2 hours between 10pm and midnight.

  • If the day of the public holiday is a usual working day for the employee, you must allow the employee an Alternative Holiday for working on the public holiday.

  • For the time between midnight and 5am, you pay ordinary rates.


Section 50
Employer must pay employee time and a half for working on public holiday


(1) If an employee works (in accordance with his or her employment agreement) on any part of a public holiday, the employer must pay the employee at least the portion of the employee's relevant daily pay that relates to the time actually worked on the day plus half that amount again.

(2) This section is subject to section 51 (Transitional provision for employers who already pay for work on public holidays in employee's regular pay).


See Also

Our article Shift work and public holidays - the Wattie's case provides some answers

In this 2005 case the court made an express declaration that the expression "another day", as set out in section 44(2) (days that are public holidays) may be defined by employers and employees as a continuous 24-hour period running to and from a time other than midnight to midnight, provided that it is consistent with legislation and compliant with section 44(3) so that it does not diminish the total number of paid holidays that would otherwise be available to an employee in a year. This is recognition of a move away from the traditional Monday-Friday 9-5 working week.

More on processing holiday pays

  52 week history not required   Annual compulsory closedowns
  Holiday pay - daily rates   Changing holiday from 8% each pay
  Using the leave calendar   Termination 8% Part Year Payment
  Employee leave profile   Leave owing report is estimate
  Taxing of holiday pay   Holiday pay miscellaneous
  Alphabetical Index FAQ Questions FAQ Contents Back to top
More on the Holidays Act

  Annual Leave Changes 2007 - Ace Payroll   No penal payments if called back from leave
  Annual Leave Changes 2007 - Auckland Chamber of Commerce   Payments for statutory holidays
  Holiday and leave contents   Holiday pay entitlements
  Holidays Act 2003 full text   Annual compulsory closedowns
  Relevant Daily Pay - Irregular Work Pattern   Holiday pay miscellaneous
  Heinz Wattie day definition   ERS - How is holiday pay worked out?
  Employment Relations Service FAQ's   Taxing of holiday pay
  Employee can go fishing while sick   Public holiday entitlements
  No holiday pay on redundancy   Time Bank
  Annual leave accumulates until taken   How to manually change from 4 to 5 weeks
  Alphabetical Index   Case Law Back to top
More on Public Holidays

  Public Holiday Taken   Christmas New Year
  Public Holiday Worked   Labour Day
  Sick Leave On Public Holiday   Queen's Birthday
  Default Provincial Anniversary   ANZAC Day
  Public Holiday Calendar   Public holiday entitlements
  Easter Holidays   Employment Relations Service FAQ's
  Easter Sunday - Retailers and Retail Workers   Allowing alternative holidays
  Waitangi Day   Time Bank
  Alphabetical Index   Case Law Back to top
Other Leave Sections
  Holidays Act 2003   Public Holiday Worked   Annual Holiday Payments   Time Bank
  Public Holiday Entitlements   Alternative Holidays   Sick Leave   Holiday & Leave Contents
  Public Holiday Taken   Annual Holiday Entitlements   Bereavement Leave  
Copyright © 1985 - 2010 Ace Payroll
Feedback? E-Mail Us! 		Call Toll Free
 0800 223 729 		Updated: 28th February 2010
Published: 29th March 2006 		Back to top