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 2020
For all the official Public Holiday dates in New Zealand visit the New Zealand Government Website.
| Holiday Name | Actual Date | Observed Date | Next Possible Payday* |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Wednesday 1 January | Wednesday 1 January | Saturday 4 January |
| Day after New Year’s Day | Thursday 2 January | Thursday 2 January | Saturday 4 January |
| Waitangi Day | Thursday 6 February | Thursday 6 February | Saturday 8 February |
| Good Friday | Friday 10 April | Friday 10 April | Wednesday 15 April |
| Easter Monday | Monday 13 April | Monday 13 April | Wednesday 15 April |
| ANZAC Day | Saturday 25 April | Monday 27 April | Wednesday 29 April |
| Queen’s Birthday | 1st Monday in June | Monday 1 June | Wednesday 3 June |
| Labour Day | 4th Monday in October | Monday 26 October | Wednesday 28 October |
| Christmas Day | Friday 25 December | Friday 25 December | Wednesday 30 December |
| Boxing Day | Saturday 26 December | Monday 28 December | Wednesday 30 December |
*Optional Same-day payments are also available for holidays where a weekday follows.
See more on our plans and pricing page.