Night shift on a public holiday: which hours get time and a half?
A public holiday runs from midnight to midnight, so only the hours you work inside it are paid at least time and a half. 22:00 Sunday to 06:30 on Labour Day, with a 30-minute break after midnight, is 2 ordinary hours and 6 holiday hours. A written agreement can move the holiday to a 24-hour period covering the whole shift instead.
Worked out for the example. Change the boxes to make it yours.
| Sunday 25 October 2026, 22:00 to midnight | 2 hours |
|---|---|
| Monday 26 October 2026, 00:00 to 06:30 | 6 hours, Labour Day (after a 30-minute break) |
| Public holiday hours, at time and a half | 6 hours |
| Ordinary hours, at your usual rate | 2 hours |
| 6 hours at $42.00 (time and a half) | $252.00 |
| 2 hours at $28.00 | $56.00 |
| Pay for the shift, at least | $308.00 |
| With a written 24-hour transfer covering the shift | $336.00 |
| Alternative holiday (a paid day off later) | Yes, one whole day |
- The alternative holiday is a whole working day off however few holiday hours you worked, paid at what you would have earned that day.
- Time and a half is the legal floor, on your relevant daily pay without penal rates. If your agreement pays more for public holidays, or a night rate, the better of the two applies.
- From 6 August 2028, under the Employment Leave Act 2026, alternative leave builds up hour for hour worked on the holiday instead of as a whole day.
Free on every plan. Your account adds the shift to Your Timesheets as two entries split at midnight, after asking, each noted as ordinary or public holiday hours.
The holiday runs midnight to midnight
A public holiday is a calendar day. Section 50 of the Holidays Act 2003 pays at least time and a half for the time actually worked on the day, so a shift that crosses midnight is split: the hours inside the holiday get time and a half, and the hours before or after it are paid as usual, with any night or weekend rate your agreement gives. The Act's own example in section 44A starts from the same split: without an agreement, 10 pm to midnight on Anzac Day is part of the holiday. An unpaid break comes off the side of midnight it was taken on, which is why the calculator asks when yours started. If both days are public holidays, such as Christmas night into Boxing Day, every hour is a holiday hour. Our public holiday pay calculator covers a shift worked wholly on the day, including an agreement's own public holiday rate.
Moving the holiday to cover the whole shift
Under section 44A, when you start work on one day and finish on the next, and one or both is a public holiday, you and your employer may agree in writing, in your employment agreement or separately, to treat a 24-hour period as the holiday instead. It must start or finish during the holiday and include the whole shift. Then the whole shift is paid at time and a half, and the hours of the calendar holiday outside that period are not. The purpose must not be to avoid time and a half or the alternative holiday, although that may be the effect, and the agreement cannot reduce the number of public holidays you get in a year. An employer may also adopt a policy of not making these agreements (section 44C). The calculator shows the pay both ways, so you can see what the agreement changes.
The alternative holiday
If the public holiday falls on a day you would otherwise have worked, and you work any part of it, section 56 gives you an alternative holiday as well: a whole paid day off to take later, however few holiday hours the shift had. Two holidays worked in one shift, such as Christmas Day and Boxing Day, earn two. Under a written transfer, the 24-hour period is the holiday, so it is the period you work in that counts. When a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, it stays on that day only if you would otherwise work it; if not, it moves to the following Monday, or Tuesday after a Sunday Christmas or New Year holiday (sections 45 and 45A). The alternative holiday entry in our glossary covers taking it and being paid it out.
The dates, and what changes in 2028
The calculator holds Employment New Zealand's public holiday and regional anniversary dates for 2025, 2026 and 2027. Employment New Zealand notes that anniversary dates can contain errors and that Otago has no single local day, so check yours with your employer or council. From 6 August 2028 the Employment Leave Act 2026 keeps the written 24-hour transfer (section 56 of that Act), and alternative leave builds up hour for hour worked on the holiday instead of as a whole day (section 63). Our article on the Employment Leave Act 2026 covers the rest.
Questions
Do I get time and a half for a night shift that starts the night before a public holiday?
For the hours after midnight, yes. Those hours fall on the public holiday and are paid at least time and a half. The hours before midnight are ordinary hours, unless you have a written agreement moving the holiday to a 24-hour period that covers the whole shift.
What if my night shift starts on the public holiday and finishes the next morning?
The hours up to midnight are on the holiday and get at least time and a half. The hours after midnight are ordinary, unless the next day is a public holiday too, or a written agreement treats a 24-hour period covering the shift as the holiday.
Do I get a day in lieu if only 2 hours of my shift were on the public holiday?
Yes, if the holiday fell on a day you would otherwise have worked. Section 56 of the Holidays Act 2003 gives an alternative holiday for working any part of it, and section 57 makes it a whole working day off.
Can my employer move the public holiday to cover my whole shift?
Only by written agreement with you. Section 44A allows a 24-hour period that starts or finishes on the holiday and covers the whole shift, as long as the purpose is not to avoid time and a half or the alternative holiday.
Christmas night into Boxing Day: is the whole shift time and a half?
Yes, when both days are public holidays for you. Every hour falls on one holiday or the other, and if both were days you would otherwise have worked, you earn two alternative holidays.
What happens when I save the shift?
Your account adds the shift to Your Timesheets as two entries, one on each side of midnight, after asking. Each is noted as ordinary or public holiday hours, with the alternative holiday if one is owed. Logging hours is free on every plan.
Sources
- Holidays Act 2003, ss 44 to 57: public holidays, transfers and alternative holidays.
- Employment New Zealand: transferring a public holiday.
- Employment New Zealand: public holiday pay.
- Employment New Zealand: public holidays and anniversary dates.
- Employment New Zealand: previous years' public holidays and anniversary dates.
- Employment Leave Act 2026, in force 6 August 2028.
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