Calculators · For employers

Nine-day fortnight hours calculator: the day, the breaks and the leave

On a nine-day fortnight, the fortnight's hours are spread over nine days: 80 hours become 8.89 hours a day, or 8 hours 53 minutes. Type the hours, the days and the start time. The calculator gives the finish time, the rest and meal breaks the law sets for that day, and how annual holidays, sick leave and public holidays work out on the new pattern.

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

Each working day8:5380 hours over 9 days a fortnight is 8 hours 53 minutes a day: 8:00 am to 5:23 pm.

Each working day	8 hours 53 minutes (8.89 hours)
In whole minutes, to make the fortnight exact	6 days of 8:53 and 3 days of 8:54
Hours a week, on average	40 hours
Each day now (10 days a fortnight)	8 hours
Each working day gets longer by	53 minutes
Start to finish, with a 30-minute unpaid break	8:00 am to 5:23 pm
Breaks the law sets for a work period of 9 hours 23 minutes	two 10-minute paid rest breaks and one 30-minute meal break
4 weeks' annual holidays, a week as the longest week (5 days)	20 days, 177.78 hours
4 weeks' annual holidays, a week as the average (4.5 days), only if agreed	18 days, 160 hours
10 days' sick leave a year, at the day's length	88.89 hours
A public holiday on a working day is paid for	8.89 hours (the day's pay)
A public holiday on the rostered day off	Nothing owed by law
From 6 August 2028: ordinary weekly hours	40 hours
From 6 August 2028: annual leave built in a year	159.95 hours

The days off follow the pattern your agreement sets. Hours written into an employment agreement change only with the employee's agreement.
How the 4 weeks are counted is agreed with each person (Holidays Act 2003, s 17). Counting a week as the longest week, 5 days, always gives at least 4 weeks off; the average gives fewer days and needs agreement.
Sick leave, public holidays and alternative holidays are paid at relevant daily pay: what the person would have been paid for that day, so on this pattern each one is the longer day.
A public holiday that falls on someone's rostered day off is not an otherwise working day for them, so the Act does not require a payment or an alternative holiday. Your agreement may give one.
From 6 August 2028 leave builds by the hour under the Employment Leave Act 2026, so the number of days stops mattering for leave.

Team timesheets shows the hours staff choose to share, by person, project and task, with a CSV ready for payroll. Optional approvals, billable and private cost rates, hours budgets and team invoices are all included in the seat. It never reads the pay or rates in anyone's own account.

See Team timesheets

How the day is worked out

The fortnight's hours are divided by the days worked in it: 80 hours over 9 days is 8.89 hours, or 8 hours 53 minutes, and over 8 days it is 10 hours. Payroll uses the decimal; a roster needs whole minutes, so the calculator also shows a split that adds up to the fortnight exactly. The finish time is the start time plus the day plus any unpaid meal break. The average week stays the same, and no law defines full time (our article on how many hours full time is explains). Where an employment agreement sets the hours, Employment New Zealand says the employer cannot change them without the employee's agreement. An employee can ask for a compressed week in writing under Part 6AA of the Employment Relations Act 2000, and the employer must reply within a month; our guide to flexible working requests covers the process.

Breaks on a longer day

Section 69ZD of the Employment Relations Act 2000 sets breaks by the work period, which runs from start to finish and includes the breaks. Over 6 hours and under 10, that is two 10-minute paid rest breaks and one 30-minute meal break; a work period of 10 hours or more adds another rest break, and one over 12 hours adds a second meal break too. A nine-day fortnight of 80 hours with a 30-minute meal break is a work period of about 9 hours 23 minutes, so the breaks are the same as on an 8-hour day. A four-day week of 40 hours, with a 30-minute meal break, is 10 hours 30 minutes and adds a third rest break. Our article on rest and meal breaks sets out when they are taken.

Annual holidays, sick leave and public holidays

The Holidays Act 2003 gives 4 weeks of annual holidays a year, and section 17 lets employer and employee agree how that is met, based on what genuinely is a working week. MBIE's guidance on the Act names the nine-day fortnight as a pattern that does not fit a weekly cycle. Counting a week as the longest week in the cycle, 5 days, always gives at least 4 weeks off: 20 days. Counting the average, 4.5 days, gives 18 days and works only if you both agree. Sick leave stays at 10 days a year (section 65), and a sick day, a public holiday and an alternative holiday are paid at relevant daily pay, the pay for that day, so each one is now the longer day. A public holiday on someone's rostered day off is not an otherwise working day for them, so section 49 requires no payment and no alternative holiday is owed, unless your agreement gives one.

From 6 August 2028

The Employment Leave Act 2026 replaces the Holidays Act on 6 August 2028. Annual leave then builds at 0.0769 of an hour for each standard hour (section 24) and sick leave at 0.0385 of an hour (section 73), so a person on 80 hours a fortnight builds the same leave whether they work 8, 9 or 10 days. Holidays already held convert to hours at ordinary weekly hours, which for a repeating cycle is the cycle's standard hours divided by its days, times 7 (Schedule 1, clause 12): 80 hours over 14 days is 40. An otherwise working day follows the pattern of days in the agreement (section 13). Our article on the Employment Leave Act changes covers the rest.

Questions

How many hours a day is a 9 day fortnight?

Divide the fortnight's hours by 9. On 80 hours, that is 8.89 hours, or 8 hours 53 minutes, each working day; on 75 hours, it is 8.33 hours, or 8 hours 20 minutes. An unpaid meal break comes on top, so 8:00 am with a 30-minute break finishes at 5:23 pm.

How much annual leave do you get on a nine-day fortnight?

4 weeks a year, as on any pattern. How the weeks are counted is agreed under section 17 of the Holidays Act 2003: as 20 days, the longest week of 5 days times 4, which always gives 4 weeks off, or as 18 days, the average of 4.5 days, if you both agree.

Does a public holiday on the day off get paid?

Not by law. A public holiday that falls on a rostered day off is not an otherwise working day, so the employer does not have to pay for it or give an alternative holiday. An employment agreement can give more.

Is a sick day longer on a nine-day fortnight?

Yes. Sick leave is still 10 days a year, and each day is paid at relevant daily pay: what the person would have earned that day. On 80 hours over 9 days, a sick day is 8.89 hours.

Can an employer move staff to a nine-day fortnight?

Only by agreement where the hours are in the employment agreement: Employment New Zealand says an employer cannot change them without the employee's agreement. Staff can also ask for one in writing, and the employer must reply within a month.

Can I check the hours staff actually work against the pattern?

Team timesheets at jobtracker.co.nz shows the hours staff choose to share, by person, project and task, for any period, with a CSV ready for payroll, so you can compare them with the pattern you agreed. It does not build rosters or set work patterns.

Sources

More free tools: see all the calculators.