Keeping track of the evolving employment laws in New Zealand can get a little complicated. Our blog highlights how you can best prepare for the holidays and make sure that employees are getting paid correctly.
1. Understanding Mondayisation / Tuesdayisation
As Employment New Zealand explains, Mondayisation can occur ‘when a public hoilday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, as employee’s public holiday might be moved to the following Monday (or in some cases Tuesday).’ For NZ employers, it's important to stay on top of Mondayisation when public holidays fall as their advent can directly impact pay and holiday entitlements.
Based on NZ the Holidays Act 2003, the principle of good faith requires that employers should be transparent with employees regarding how a transfer of a public holiday may affect their pay. Non-compliance can become a significant issue as the compliance with regulations requires employers to ensure their employees’ holiday and leave entitlements and pay are correct.
2. Tracking New Zealand’s public holidays
2024 public holidays;
- New Year's Day – Monday 1 January
- Day after New Year's Day - Tuesday 2 January
- Waitangi Day - Tuesday 6 February
- Good Friday - Friday 29 March
- Easter Monday – Monday 1 April
- ANZAC Day - Thursday 25 April
- King's Birthday - Monday 3 June
- Matariki - Friday 28 June
- Labour Day - fourth Monday in October
- in October - Monday 28 October
- Christmas Day - Wednesday 25 December
- Boxing Day - Thursday 26 December
It’s important for businesses’ to keep across public holidays as there are specific employment requirements linked to compliance embedded within New Zealand regulation. For more guidance on NZ public holidays employment rules, click here.
3. Cotton On Group Case Study
In New Zealand, Cotton On is using one UKG solution to stay ahead of Mondayised holidays which has resulted in significant time savings for internal teams.
Natalie McLean, Cotton On’s Chief Retail Officer, says: “We definitely experienced the benefits of improved visibility and could even identify future overtime,”
“The business can now make informed decisions at any point in time and to effectively use wages and be more productive with how they are used to deliver a better customer experience.”
“The UKG solution has unlocked visibility into the wage spend, automation of tasks, diving into accurate information, and effectively building schedules,” added McLean.
Overall, Cotton On has realised a number of benefits by using a UKG solution to gain greater insight into its business. To learn more about how Cotton On partnered with UKG to achieve remarkable results, click here.
4. UKG Pro Workforce Management™ for New Zealand
By harnessing world-class technology for complex compliance needs, Kiwi businesses’ can elevate their workforce with industry-tailored functionality. The UKG solution can empower companies to automate Mondayised holidays for eligible team members, which in turn can generate significant time savings.
With a secure, seamless solution, UKG Pro can assist in ensuring the right pay is calculated by assessing patterns for insights into employees’ work days and whether or not they worked on a public holiday, the observed day, or both.
5. Mondayisation Compliance and Risk Mitigation
By partnering with UKG, you can better manage your workforce management compliance requirements by mitigating risk and avoiding:
- Costly fines or penalties,
- Reputational damage,
- High workforce turnover due to low engagement, distrust or employees being unintentionally underpaid and
- Violating your legal obligations as an employer
The UKG solution can empower companies to automate Mondayised holidays for eligible team members, which in turn can generate significant time savings and boost productivity.