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

My employee is on annual leave over a public holiday. How do I record this on their timesheet?

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.

Here is an example: Aroha has taken two weeks of annual leave from Monday to the following Friday. Friday of the first week is a public holiday. Her timesheet will show 9 days of annual leave and 1 day of public holiday off.

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 this period is unpaid.

An example of this could be while receiving ACC payments during the 2nd week of ACC.

Links to further information:


When a Public Holiday falls within a Leave Period - Employment New Zealand Website	How to enter Public Holidays article - Thankyou Payroll Help Centre

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