What are the current rules around employees having to work on public holidays? How much should you be paid and can you refuse to work on Christmas or New Year’s Day?
Employees are entitled to a paid day off if they have to work on a public holiday as long as it’s a day they would normally work on during other weeks.
If you work on that public holiday you must be paid at least time and a half for the time you work and get an alternative day off.
The matter is dealt with on the website employment.govt.nz where you can also find methods for calculating payments.
You would be required to work on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day if it fell on a day you would work on during other weeks or, if your employment agreement stipulated you could be required to work on public holidays.
Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and the day after New Year’s Day are all “Mondayised” holidays in New Zealand.
Mondayisation happens when an employee’s public holiday which falls on a Saturday or Sunday, like those mentioned above, is moved to the following Monday (or in some cases Tuesday).
Mondayisation only happens if the employee doesn’t normally work on the calendar date of the holiday. If an employee normally works on the day of the public holiday’s calendar date then there is no Mondayisation for them and their public holiday benefits apply to the calendar date.
