Public Holiday Pay
Working on a public holiday pays the greater of two amounts: time and a half on your relevant daily pay excluding penal rates, or your relevant daily pay including any penal rate in your employment agreement. You are paid the higher figure, not both. If the day was an otherwise working day, you also earn a whole alternative holiday.
It is a greater-of test, not a multiplier
Almost every summary of this rule says "time and a half" and stops. The Holidays Act sets out two calculations and requires the larger, which matters the moment your employment agreement contains a penal rate.
| Your situation | Time and a half | Agreement rate | You are paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| $26.00 an hour, no penal rate | $39.00 | None | $39.00 |
| $27.00 an hour, double time in the agreement | $40.50 | $54.00 | $54.00 |
| $25.00 an hour, agreement says $35.00 | $37.50 | $35.00 | $37.50 |
The third row is the one worth keeping. An employment agreement that promises $35.00 an hour for a public holiday pays $37.50 instead, because the statutory figure is higher. An agreement can raise the rate and can never lower it.
A salaried employee on $2,000.00 a fortnight
- 1.Fortnightly salary$2,000.00
- 2.Days worked in the fortnightRelevant daily pay is the salary divided by the days worked in the period10
- 3.Relevant daily pay$200.00
- 4.Multiplied by 1.5$300.00
- 5.Alternative holiday earnedA full day even if only half the day was workedA whole day
- Paid for the public holiday$300.00
The alternative holiday is a whole day, always
An alternative holiday is a paid day off taken later. Some people call it a day in lieu, but that term also covers other kinds of leave, so the legal name is worth using when you ask for it. You earn one when all three of these hold:
- you worked on the public holiday
- the public holiday was an otherwise working day for you
- you are not employed only to work on public holidays
Two features of it are commonly missed, and both favour the employee.
- Hours worked do not shrink it. Work two hours on Easter Monday and you earn a full alternative holiday, not two hours off.
- It is paid at the rate for the day you take it. Employment New Zealand's example: three hours worked on a public holiday, the alternative holiday taken on a Friday when the employee would work eight hours, and eight hours must be paid.
Unworked public holidays turn on one question
If you do not work the public holiday, whether you are paid depends entirely on whether it was an otherwise working day, meaning a day you would usually have worked.
If it was, you get the day off and your relevant daily pay for it, and that payment must be made in the pay period the holiday falls in rather than later. If it was not, you have no entitlement to payment for that day, although your employer may choose to pay you anyway.
The 11 public holidays, and the days they are observed
The observed date is the one that carries the entitlement, and it is not always the actual date. Regional anniversary days are public holidays too, but their dates are set locally rather than nationally.
| Holiday | Actual date | Observed 2026 | Observed 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | 1 January | Thursday 1 January | Friday 1 January |
| Day after New Year's Day | 2 January | Friday 2 January | Monday 4 January |
| Waitangi Day | 6 February | Friday 6 February | Monday 8 February |
| Good Friday | Varies | Friday 3 April | Friday 26 March |
| Easter Monday | Varies | Monday 6 April | Monday 29 March |
| Anzac Day | 25 April | Monday 27 April | Monday 26 April |
| King's Birthday | 1st Monday in June | Monday 1 June | Monday 7 June |
| Matariki | Varies | Friday 10 July | Friday 25 June |
| Labour Day | 4th Monday in October | Monday 26 October | Monday 25 October |
| Christmas Day | 25 December | Friday 25 December | Monday 27 December |
| Boxing Day | 26 December | Monday 28 December | Tuesday 28 December |
Anzac Day 2026 falls on a Saturday and Boxing Day 2026 falls on a Saturday, which is why both are observed on the Monday.
Mondayisation, stated exactly
Two groups of holidays follow different rules when they land on a weekend, and in both cases the answer depends on whether you would normally have worked that weekend day.
- Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and 2 January. Observed on the actual day when it is a weekday. On a Saturday or Sunday, it is observed on that day if you would normally work it, and otherwise moves to the following Monday or Tuesday.
- Waitangi Day and Anzac Day. Mondayised only if they fall on a Saturday or Sunday and you would not normally have worked that day. If you normally work Saturdays, Anzac Day on a Saturday stays on the Saturday for you.
The consequence is that two people at the same workplace can have the same public holiday on two different days, and both payslips are correct.
Relevant daily pay, and when average daily pay replaces it
Relevant daily pay is what you would have earned on the day in question. It includes your usual pay plus incentive payments, overtime, the cash value of board or lodgings, and regular allowances. Non-taxable reimbursements are excluded.
Average daily pay is gross earnings over the past 52 weeks divided by the whole or part days worked, including paid holidays and leave. It can only be used where relevant daily pay is not possible or practicable to work out, or where your daily pay varies within the pay period. Employment New Zealand's example divides $47,216.00 by 208 days to reach $227.00.
This page is about public holidays only
Annual holidays run on a different calculation entirely: the greater of ordinary weekly pay and average weekly earnings, which the holiday pay calculator works out. And a payout of accrued holiday pay is taxed as an extra pay rather than as salary, which is covered on bonus and redundancy tax. Public holiday pay itself runs through PAYE as ordinary earnings.
Next
- Holiday pay calculatorAnnual holidays, the other Holidays Act entitlement
- Final pay calculatorWhere untaken alternative holidays are paid out
- Overtime TaxWhy a big week looks over-taxed
- how to read a New Zealand payslipEvery line on the page
- take-home pay calculatorWhat the day leaves you after PAYE
Common questions
How much do you get paid for working a public holiday in NZ?
At least time and a half. Precisely, the greater of two amounts: relevant daily pay for the time worked excluding any penal rate plus half again, or relevant daily pay for the time worked including the penal rate in your agreement. You get the higher one, never both.
If my contract says double time, do I get double time and a half?
No, it is a comparison rather than a sum. On $27.00 an hour, time and a half is $40.50 and double time is $54.00. You are paid $54.00. The Act sets a floor, and a better agreement replaces it instead of stacking on it.
Do I get a day in lieu for working a public holiday?
You get an alternative holiday, if the public holiday was an otherwise working day for you and you are not employed only to work public holidays. It is a whole paid day off however few hours you worked, and it is paid at the rate for the day you take it.
What is an otherwise working day?
A day you would usually have worked had it not been a public holiday. It decides whether an unworked holiday is paid at all, and whether a worked one earns you an alternative holiday.
Do I get paid for a public holiday I did not work?
Only if it was an otherwise working day. Then you get the day off plus relevant daily pay, paid in the pay period the holiday falls in. If not, there is no entitlement to payment, though an employer may choose to pay anyway.
Is Easter Sunday a public holiday in New Zealand?
No. Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays. Easter Sunday is not, so it carries no time and a half and no alternative holiday. It has separate shop trading rules, which are not pay rules.
Does an alternative holiday expire?
No, it never expires. After 12 months you and your employer can agree to pay it out. Untaken when you leave, it is paid in your final pay at your relevant daily pay for your last day.
Where these figures come from
2026–27 tax year (1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027). Last verified 30 July 2026.
Related
- Holiday pay calculatorAnnual holidays, and the OWP against AWE test
- Final pay calculatorWhere an untaken alternative holiday is paid out
- Bonus and redundancy taxHow a lump sum is taxed differently
- how to read a New Zealand payslipWhere public holiday pay appears
- take-home pay calculatorWhat the extra hours leave you after PAYE