Public Holidays and Pay Processing
Public holidays and long weekends are great but they can sneak up on you! Be sure to double check you’re ready when the next public holiday might affect your pays.
Below is an example pay period if the holiday falls on Monday. You may be charged unexpected fees in a pay week after a long weekend. Shorter weeks means we can’t run your normal turn-around. For example, if you use the Two-day Plan for a Thursday Payday, you’ll need to transfer to us on Friday before the weekend.

Key Points
- Your ‘Payday’ is defined as the day (from early AM) your employees see their wages in their bank account.
- Our bank processes pays overnight before your set Payday, so you cannot have a Payday after a Saturday, Sunday or any national public holiday.
- Don’t forget: record public holidays taken in the system. Use the ‘Public holiday off’ pay type in timesheets.
- If a public holiday is worked, that needs to be paid at ‘time and a half’ or 1.5 times your employees’ standard rate AND you need to add an ‘Alternative Holiday’ day to your employee’s balance (in a new timesheet row).
Further notes:
- If your normal Payday is Tuesday, a typical long weekend like the one above will mean you will have to adjust your pay day (make it earlier or later).
- If your normal Payday is Thursday and you use the Two-day plan (i.e. you deposit by 10pm Monday), you will need to deposit the week before to save $1 per employee otherwise you’ll be charged the Fast-plan prices, unless you are a registered charity, when all plans are free.
Public Holidays for 2022/23
For all the official Public Holiday dates in New Zealand visit the New Zealand Government Website.
Holiday Name | Actual Date | Observed Date | Next Possible Payday1 |
---|---|---|---|
New Year’s Day 2022 | Saturday 1 January 2022 | Monday 3 January 2022 | Thursday 5 January 2022 |
Day after New Year’s Day 2022 | Sunday 2 January 2022 | Tuesday 4 January 2022 | Thursday 5 January 2022 |
Waitangi Day2 | Sunday 6 February | Monday 7 February | Wednesday 9 February |
Good Friday2 | Friday 15 April | Friday 15 April | Wednesday 20 April |
Easter Monday | Monday 18 April | Monday 18 April | Wednesday 20 April |
Anzac Day | Monday 25 April | Monday 25 April | Wednesday 27 April |
Queen’s Birthday | Monday 6 June | Monday 6 June | Wednesday 8 June |
Matariki | Friday 24 June | Friday 24 June | Tuesday 28 June |
Labour Day | Monday 24 October | Monday 24 October | Wednesday 26 October |
Christmas Day2 | Sunday 25 December | Tuesday 27 December | Thursday 29 December |
Boxing Day | Monday 26 December | Monday 26 December | Thursday 29 December |
New Year’s Day 20232 | Sunday 1 January 2023 | Thursday 5 January 2023 | Thursday 5 January 2023 |
Day after New Year’s Day 2023 | Monday 2 January 2023 | Monday 2 January 2023 | Thursday 5 January 2023 |
1 Optional Same-day payments are also available for holidays where a weekday follows.
2 These days can still be a payday if it’s your normal payday.
See more on our plans and pricing page.