Otherwise working day: what it means and how it is decided

Why the answer matters

Under the Holidays Act 2003, a great deal turns on this one question:

• A public holiday you do not work is paid, at your relevant daily pay or average daily pay, only if it is an otherwise working day. If it is not, your employer does not have to pay you for it, although it can choose to.
• A public holiday you do work is paid at least time and a half either way, but it earns an alternative holiday only if it is an otherwise working day.
• Sick, bereavement and family violence leave is paid only for otherwise working days. Falling sick on a day you were not rostered to work does not give you paid sick leave for it.
• Being required to work a public holiday is only possible if it is an otherwise working day and your agreement says you must.

How it is decided: the factors in section 12

For most people it is obvious: you work Monday to Friday, so a Monday public holiday is an otherwise working day. When it is not clear, section 12 says you and your employer must consider these factors, with a view to agreeing:

• your employment agreement;
• your work patterns;
• other relevant factors, including whether you work only when work is available, the employer's rosters, and what you and your employer could reasonably expect about whether you would work that day;
• whether, but for the public holiday, alternative holiday or leave, you would have worked.

A closedown is ignored: the factors are applied as if it were not happening. For public holidays, if you would have worked any amount of time on the day, it counts. Employment New Zealand says all the factors must be weighed, not just one, and that taking you off the roster for a public holiday you would otherwise have worked, to avoid paying it, is against the law. If you cannot agree, a labour inspector can decide under section 13.

A worked example: a part-time pattern

Leilani works part-time at $26 an hour. Her agreement names no set days, but she has worked a 6-hour shift on 11 of the last 13 Mondays, and the roster usually has her on. Labour Day falls on Monday 26 October 2026. Her pattern and both sides' reasonable expectations point one way: it is an otherwise working day.

• If the business closes and she does not work, she is paid her relevant daily pay: 6 hours at $26, $156.
• If she works the shift, she is paid at least time and a half, $234, and gets an alternative holiday as well.

Now suppose Christmas Day, which falls on Friday 25 December 2026, and that she has worked only 2 of the last 13 Fridays. Unless her roster or agreement says otherwise, it is probably not an otherwise working day. If she does not work, she is not owed pay for it. If she agrees to work, she is paid at least time and a half, but gets no alternative holiday. Our article on whether shift work is worth it covers rosters and public holiday pay, and our guide to leave entitlements in New Zealand covers each kind of leave.

Keeping a record, and the change in 2028

A record of the days you actually work is the best evidence of your pattern. Your Career's Leave section lets you log each public holiday you work and each alternative day you take, and keeps count of the alternative days still owed to you; it counts what you log, so whether a day was an otherwise working day is still one to settle with your employer. The demo shows the Leave section with no account needed.

These are Holidays Act 2003 rules. The Employment Leave Act 2026 replaces it on 6 August 2028; until then the current rules apply, and Employment New Zealand says employers cannot follow the new law early. The new Act swaps the factors for a clearer test: where your agreement does not set your days, a public holiday is generally an otherwise working day if you worked, or were on leave, on at least half of the same weekday in the 13 weeks before it. Leilani's 11 of 13 Mondays would pass.

Keep your public holidays on record