Can my employer say no to my annual leave? Refusals, notice and leave in advance

What "not unreasonably" means

Section 18 of the Holidays Act sets four rules for annual holidays you are already entitled to, which is at least four weeks after each 12 months with your employer:

• when you take them is agreed between you and your employer;
• your employer must not unreasonably withhold consent to your request;
• it must let you take your holidays within 12 months of becoming entitled to them; and
• it must let you take at least two weeks in a row, if you choose to.

The Act does not list what counts as a reasonable refusal. Employment New Zealand says your employer must agree to your request or have a good reason for declining it, and gives one example: other people have already arranged holidays at the same time. A refusal that leaves you no realistic time to take your leave within the 12 months is hard to reconcile with section 18. Whether a particular refusal is unreasonable depends on the circumstances, which is why it helps to have the request and the reply in writing.

The Act sets no notice period for asking. Your employment agreement or a workplace policy may, so check both before you ask, and follow the process they set.

Once leave is approved, it is not easily taken back. Employment New Zealand says neither you nor your employer has to accept the other's request to cancel arranged holidays, but you should negotiate in good faith. In its example, Vinh's boss asks him to cancel two weeks booked for the school holidays because the workshop is busy; he declines, but offers to postpone two of the days. Any change should be written down.

A refusal does not make your leave disappear. Your entitlement stays until you take it or it is paid out (s 16), and if the two of you still cannot agree on dates, section 19 lets your employer set them with at least 14 days' notice. Our article on whether your employer can make you take annual leave covers that side, including closedowns.

Your right to two weeks in one go

Section 18(2) is one of the few parts of the leave rules where you decide. If you choose to take at least two weeks of your annual holidays entitlement as one continuous period, your employer must allow it. Employment New Zealand puts it as at least 2 of your 4 weeks in one go.

That does not mean any two weeks you name. When they are taken is still agreed under section 18(3), so your employer can ask for different dates if it has a good reason. What it cannot do is insist on breaking your leave into odd days so that you never get a continuous break, if you have asked for one.

Public holidays help. If one falls during your leave on a day you would otherwise have worked, it is treated as a public holiday, not a day of annual leave (s 40). A worked example, which is only arithmetic: a Monday to Friday week off that includes one weekday public holiday uses 4 days of annual leave, not 5.

Leave in advance, and a negative balance when you leave

Leave before you are entitled to it works differently. Section 20 says your employer may allow you to take an agreed portion of your annual holidays in advance, and Employment New Zealand says it can refuse a request for leave in advance, unless your employment agreement has a clause that gives you one. You can ask if you have not yet worked 12 months, or have used all your current entitlement. Your employer also cannot make you take leave in advance, except during an annual closedown.

If you take leave in advance and then resign, the balance can go negative. When a job ends within the first year, section 23 sets your holiday pay at 8% of your gross earnings since you started, less anything already paid for leave taken in advance. If you took more leave than that 8% covers, the difference is an overpayment.

Your employer can take it from your final pay only with your written consent. The Wages Protection Act 1983 requires written consent for any deduction from wages, and no deduction may be unreasonable. Employment New Zealand tells employers to get that written agreement when they approve the advance, so read what you sign before you take the leave, and work out what you would owe if you left early.

Writing a request that is easy to approve

Most refusals are about timing and cover. A request that answers those questions before they are asked is easier to approve:

1. Dates and days. First and last day off, the day you return, and how many days of annual leave that uses once weekends and public holidays are taken out.
2. Your balance. Check it against your latest payslip, so the request does not run into leave you do not have.
3. Cover. Who can pick up your work, and anything you will finish before you go.
4. Handover. A short list of what is in progress, where it lives and who to ask.
5. Notice. As much as you can give, and at least what your agreement or policy asks for.
6. A fallback. If the dates are flexible, say so, or offer a second choice.

Ask in writing, even if you talk about it first, and keep the reply. If the answer is no, ask for the reason in writing and suggest other dates. If you still cannot agree, Employment New Zealand on 0800 20 90 20 can help, and its mediation service is free. A long run of refusals while you are worn out is worth raising early, before it turns into something bigger, and our article on burnout at work covers that conversation. Our guide to leave in New Zealand sets out the rest of the annual holiday rules that apply until 2028.

Starting from the right number makes a yes easier. The Leave section of Your Career works out your annual and sick leave in days under the Holidays Act, as an estimate from your start date or counted forward from the balances on your latest payslip, and keeps each day you take or book. It does not know public holiday dates or send the request for you; your payslip remains the record.

Hours-based balances from 2028

The Employment Leave Act 2026 replaces the Holidays Act on 6 August 2028, and until then your employer must follow the Holidays Act. From that date, annual leave builds up in hours from your first day, at not less than 0.0769 of an hour for each standard hour you work (s 24). The Act's own example is someone on 37.5 standard hours a week, who accrues 2.88375 hours a week.

The refusal rules carry across. You and your employer must make all reasonable efforts to agree when you take annual leave, and your employer must not unreasonably withhold consent to a request to take leave you have accrued (s 26). In each year from your start date anniversary, it must let you take the balance you held at that anniversary before the next one, and on request one period of at least 14 consecutive days without working, if you have accrued enough (s 27). Leave in advance stays at your employer's discretion (s 29). Our article on the Employment Leave Act 2026 covers the rest of the change.

Know your balance before you ask