Calculators · Leave and holidays

Days in lieu owed: your alternative holidays and when they can be paid out

You are owed one alternative holiday, often called a day in lieu, for each public holiday you worked that would otherwise have been a working day, until you take it or are paid for it. They do not expire. Once 12 months have passed, you can ask to exchange one for payment. List the holidays you worked to see the balance and the dates.

Balance on

Today, or the date you want the balance on.

Public holiday you worked (1)

Only holidays that fell on a day you would otherwise have worked, and that you have not yet had a day off or payment for. Leave spare boxes empty.

Public holiday you worked (2) (optional)

Public holiday you worked (3) (optional)

Public holiday you worked (4) (optional)

Public holiday you worked (5) (optional)

Public holiday you worked (6) (optional)

Hours on a normal working day (optional)

hours

To show what each day off is worth. Leave out unpaid breaks.

Your hourly rate before tax (optional)

You are leaving this job

Alternative holidays still owed are paid in your final pay.

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Worked out for the example. Change the boxes to make it yours.

Alternative holidays owed4 days2 are 12 months old or more, so you can ask to be paid out for them; the next reaches 12 months on 28 Oct 2026

Easter Monday, Monday 21 April 2025	12 months passed: can ask for payment
Matariki, Friday 20 June 2025	12 months passed: can ask for payment
Labour Day, Monday 27 October 2025	Can ask for payment from 28 Oct 2026
New Year's Day, Thursday 1 January 2026	Can ask for payment from 2 Jan 2027
Alternative holidays owed	4 days
Of these, 12 months or more since you earned them	2 days
Next one reaches 12 months	Wednesday 28 October 2026
Each day off, at least (8 hours at $27.50)	$220.00
For 4 days, at least	$880.00
From 6 August 2028, as alternative leave (an estimate at 8 hours a day)	32 hours

Alternative holidays do not expire: each stays owed until you take it or are paid for it (section 56(3)).
Being paid out is a request your employer can turn down. If it agrees, the amount is agreed between you (section 61). Taken as a day off instead, each is paid at least your relevant daily pay or average daily pay for that day.
If you cannot agree when to take one, your employer can set the day on a reasonable basis, with at least 14 days' notice (section 57).
The 12 months are counted from the day after the holiday (Legislation Act 2019, sections 54 and 56).
From 6 August 2028, alternative holidays still owed become alternative leave hours: days times your ordinary daily hours, worked out from the hours and days you worked or were on leave in the pay periods starting in the 93 days before (Employment Leave Act 2026, Schedule 1, clause 22). The figure here uses your usual hours as an estimate.

Nothing to save from this one yet. Your Timesheets, free on every plan, keeps a dated record of every shift you log, with a note, so each public holiday you work is on record.

See Your Timesheets

One alternative holiday for each holiday worked

Section 56 of the Holidays Act 2003 gives you an alternative holiday when a public holiday falls on a day that would otherwise be a working day for you and you work any part of it. Section 57 makes it a whole working day off, however few hours you worked on the holiday. You also get at least time and a half for the hours worked, which our public holiday pay calculator works out. There is no alternative holiday for a holiday that was not an otherwise working day for you, or if you are employed to work only on public holidays. Being on call can earn one too: if you are called in, or if the on-call restrictions meant you did not really have a holiday (section 59).

Taking them, and what they pay

An alternative holiday is taken on a day you and your employer agree, which must be a day you would otherwise work and not a public holiday. If you cannot agree, your employer can set the day on a reasonable basis, with at least 14 days' notice (section 57). The day off is paid at least your relevant daily pay or average daily pay for that day (section 60), in the pay for the period you take it: what you would have earned that day, which is why the calculator multiplies your usual hours by your rate. Section 56(3) keeps each one in force until you take it or are paid for it, and Employment New Zealand says plainly that alternative holidays do not expire.

Being paid out instead

Section 61 lets you ask your employer to exchange an alternative holiday for a payment once 12 months have passed since you became entitled to it. It is a request: if your employer agrees, the amount is agreed between you and paid as soon as practicable. The calculator counts the 12 months from the day after the holiday, as the Legislation Act 2019 counts a period after a day (sections 54 and 56), so a holiday worked on 25 December 2025 can be cashed up from 26 December 2026. When you leave, any you have not taken must be paid in your final pay at your relevant daily pay or average daily pay for your last day (section 60(2)), with no request needed. The final pay calculator adds them to the rest of what you are owed.

What changes on 6 August 2028

The Employment Leave Act 2026 replaces whole alternative holidays with alternative leave, an hour for each hour worked on a public holiday (section 63). On 6 August 2028 your employer must convert any alternative holidays still owed into hours: the number of days times your ordinary daily hours, which are the hours you worked or were on leave in the pay periods starting in the 93 days before divided by the days you worked or were on leave in them (Schedule 1, clauses 21 and 22). The calculator's estimate uses your usual hours. From then you can also ask in writing to cash up alternative leave at any time, with no 12-month wait, and your employer must answer within 14 days (section 67). The calculator counts balances up to 5 August 2028. Alternative holidays are not time in lieu for overtime, which only an agreement gives: our article on time in lieu explains the difference.

Questions

How many days in lieu am I owed?

One for each public holiday you worked that would otherwise have been a working day for you, less any you have taken or been paid for. Working 2 hours or 12 on the holiday earns the same whole day.

Do days in lieu expire in NZ?

No. Under the Holidays Act 2003 an alternative holiday stays in force until you take it or are paid for it, and Employment New Zealand says alternative holidays do not expire.

Can I get my days in lieu paid out?

You can ask once 12 months have passed since you earned one. Your employer does not have to agree; if it does, the amount is agreed between you and paid as soon as practicable (section 61).

Can my employer make me take my day in lieu?

If you cannot agree on a day, yes. Your employer can set it on a reasonable basis, on a day you would otherwise work, with at least 14 days' notice (section 57).

What happens to my days in lieu when I leave?

They are paid in your final pay, at your relevant daily pay or average daily pay for your last day of employment (section 60(2)).

Is there anything to save from this calculator?

Not yet: your account has no alternative holiday balance to fill. Your Timesheets, free on every plan, keeps a dated record of each shift you log with a note, so the public holidays you work are on record.

Sources

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