Public Holiday Pay in New Zealand: Time and a Half and Alternative Holidays

New Zealand has 11 national public holidays, plus a regional anniversary day that varies by area, so most employees get 12 public holidays a year. An employee who works on a public holiday that is an otherwise working day for them must be paid at least time and a half, and must also get an alternative holiday, a paid day off to take at another time.

This is general information about New Zealand employment law, not legal advice. For your own situation, consult a lawyer or your local Community Law centre.

The public holidays

New Zealand has 11 national public holidays under the Holidays Act 2003: New Year's Day and the day after (1 and 2 January), Waitangi Day (6 February), Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day (25 April), King's Birthday (first Monday in June), Matariki (a date set each year, always a Friday), Labour Day (fourth Monday in October), Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. On top of those, every region has its own Provincial Anniversary Day, so most employees get 12 public holidays a year rather than 11.

Waitangi Day and Anzac Day are Mondayised: if either falls on a Saturday or Sunday and that would not otherwise be a working day for the employee, the holiday moves to the following Monday for pay purposes.

Pay if you don't work the holiday

If a public holiday is an otherwise working day, meaning a day the employee would normally have worked had it not been a public holiday, the employee is paid as normal for that day and does not have to work it. The employer pays the employee's relevant daily pay, or average daily pay where relevant daily pay cannot be reliably determined, for that day.

If the public holiday falls on a day the employee would not otherwise have worked, such as a rostered day off, there is no automatic entitlement to pay for that day, although an employer can choose to pay it.

Pay if you do work the holiday

If an employee works any part of a public holiday that is an otherwise working day for them, the employer must pay at least time and a half for the actual hours worked. That means the employee's relevant daily pay or average daily pay for the hours worked, plus half that amount again, or any greater rate the employment agreement provides.

The alternative holiday (day in lieu)

An employee who works on a public holiday that is an otherwise working day also earns an alternative holiday, often called a day in lieu, on top of the time-and-a-half payment. This is a full paid day off to be taken at another agreed time, and the employee gets the full day regardless of how many hours they actually worked on the public holiday itself.

An employee does not get an alternative holiday if the public holiday was not a day they would otherwise have worked, or if they are employed specifically to work on public holidays, such as someone employed only for a one-off public holiday event. The alternative holiday is taken on a working day agreed between the employee and employer; if they cannot agree, the employer can require it be taken on a specific day with at least 14 days' notice.

Related employment topics

Public holiday pay sits alongside, but is calculated differently from, ordinary annual leave. See our guide to annual leave and holiday pay for how a week of annual leave is paid, and our guide to minimum wage in New Zealand for the base hourly rate that time-and-a-half is calculated from. For the wider picture of New Zealand employment law, visit the employment law hub.