Can I use an employee's annual leave to pay for a public holiday off?

Pay for annual leave is calculated differently to pay for a public holiday off on an otherwise working day.  For this reason, it is important to record this correctly on the timesheet.

A public holiday off must be recorded as such when it falls within a period of paid leave such as annual leave, sick leave, bereavement leave or the first week of employer-paid ACC. The leave balance is not reduced for the public holiday.

When an employee is on unpaid leave, the public holiday is not considered an otherwise working day for them. Thus, a public holiday falling during unpaid leave is not paid. *An example of this could be an employee receiving ACC payments from the 2nd week onwards = an unpaid public holiday.

Links to further information:

• Understanding public holiday pay - Employment NZ
• We have the following articles walking you through some examples:
  • A public holiday falls during my employee's annual leave. What now?
  • When is a public holiday unpaid if the employee does not work hours on that day?

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