Annual leave entitlement
An employee’s annual leave entitlement should be in their employment agreement. Ideally, every payslip will show a summary of the employees’ annual leave.
All employees are entitled to four weeks’ paid annual leave after each 12-month period of continuous employment with one employer, however many employers allow leave in advance.
For casual employees, annual leave may be paid on a pay-as-you-go basis at the rate of 8% of their earnings while employed.
- Check out Employment New Zealand for annual holiday information
- To calculate leave entitlement, try out quick and easy annual leave calculator
Public holidays
Public holidays are different to annual leave. There are currently 11 public holidays in New Zealand. An employee does not have to work for their employer for a qualifying period before becoming entitled to public holidays. Working public holidays attracts different rates of pay and alternative days off.
- See the current list of public holidays and anniversary dates
- Visit Employment New Zealand to ensure you record and apply these rates correctly
Sick leave
Sick leave is for when an employee is genuinely ill or injured. It can also be used when the employee’s partner or a person who depends on them for care is sick or injured (such as their child or elderly parent).
The normal amount is 5 paid days per year, however minimum sick leave entitlements are increasing to 10 days from 24 July 2021. An employee needs to have been employed for 6 months to qualify for paid sick leave.
- Check out Employment New Zealand for more sick leave information.
- More about sick leave and time off on ACC.
Parental leave
Parental leave is available to employees in a number of situations, including when their baby is born, or if they take permanent primary responsibility for a child under six years old.
Normally, the employee will get some pay from the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) if they are off work on parental leave. The payment amount is different depending on the employee’s work circumstances, their pay rate, and the type of parental leave they are taking.
- Check out the IRD website for paid parental leave information
- Check out Employment New Zealand’s parental leave information.
Breaks
By law employees are entitled to unpaid rest and paid meal breaks and varies depending on the length of their working day (or work period). The employer must provide these breaks as a minimum entitlement.
Where rest or meal breaks would interfere with essential tasks, e.g. milking, an agreement to take the break when reasonably possible is recommended.
- See Employment New Zealand’s information on rest and meal breaks.