Leave entitlements in New Zealand

At a glance

For sick, bereavement and family violence leave, "six months" means six months' current continuous employment with the same employer, or, if your hours are irregular, six months in which you worked an average of 10 hours a week, with at least 1 hour in every week or 40 hours in every month.

Annual holidays

After each 12 months of continuous employment, you are entitled to at least 4 weeks' paid annual holidays (Employment New Zealand: taking annual holidays).

• They do not build up day by day in law, even if your payslip shows "accrued leave". Before twelve months, you can take holidays in advance only if your employer agrees.
• Taking them: your employer must agree to your request or have a good reason to decline it, let you take at least 2 of your 4 weeks in one go, and let you take them within 12 months of becoming entitled.
• Being told to take them: your employer can require you to take annual holidays if you cannot agree on when and it gives you at least 14 days' notice, or for a regular annual closedown with at least 14 days' notice.
• Cashing up: you can ask to exchange up to 1 week of your holidays a year for pay, if your employer agrees.
• Pay as you go: if you are on a fixed-term agreement of less than 12 months, or your work is so irregular that four weeks' holidays cannot work in practice, you can agree to be paid at least 8% of your gross earnings with your pay instead.
• Sick or bereaved before you go: if you become sick, suffer a bereavement or are affected by family violence before your holiday starts, your employer must let you take that leave instead, if you are entitled to it. If it happens during the holiday, bereavement and family violence leave must be allowed; switching to sick leave needs your employer's agreement.

Sick leave

Once you qualify at six months, you get 10 days' paid sick leave a year, whether you are full-time, part-time or casual. It is not reduced for part-time work (Employment New Zealand: taking sick leave).

• Who it is for: you, or caring for your partner, your children or other dependants.
• Carrying it over: unused days carry over to a maximum of 20 days, unless your agreement or workplace policy allows more.
• Part days: unless you and your employer agree otherwise, a day you go home sick partway through can count as a whole day.
• Proof: your employer can ask for it. If you are sick for 3 or more calendar days in a row, it can ask on or after the third day and you pay for the certificate; if it asks sooner, it must repay your costs.
• Appointments: sick leave covers an appointment to diagnose or treat an illness or injury, but not a routine check-up, unless your agreement says so.

Bereavement leave

Once you qualify at six months (Employment New Zealand: taking bereavement leave):

• At least 3 days' paid leave for each bereavement when an immediate family member dies, for example a parent, child, partner or spouse, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister or parent-in-law, and when you, or your partner, have a miscarriage or stillbirth, and in some related situations.
• At least 1 day when someone else dies and your employer accepts you have had a bereavement, based on how close you were, your responsibility for the arrangements, and any cultural responsibilities.
• When you take it is up to you: at any time and for any purpose relating to the bereavement, not necessarily straight away or on consecutive days.
• Proof: the law is silent on it, so your employer cannot make proof a condition of taking bereavement leave.
• Before six months, your employer can agree to leave in advance, annual holidays or other paid or unpaid leave, but cannot make you use annual holidays.

Family violence leave

If you, or a child who lives with you, are affected by family violence, you can take up to 10 days' paid family violence leave a year once you qualify at six months. It does not matter when the family violence took place (Employment New Zealand: taking family violence leave).

• It does not carry over to the next year, and it is not paid out when you leave.
• Proof: your employer can ask for it. A letter or email from a support person, a support organisation, a doctor, a nurse or a school, a witnessed declaration, or court or police documents can all serve.
• Short-term flexible working: you can ask, in writing, to change your hours, days or place of work for up to 2 months, and your employer should answer within 10 working days.
• Your employer must protect your personal information and must not treat you badly because you are affected by family violence.

Public holidays and alternative holidays

You are entitled to a paid day off when a public holiday falls on a day you would otherwise have worked, up to a maximum of 12 public holidays a year (Employment New Zealand: public holiday rights).

• If you work one, you are paid at least time and a half for the time you work. If it falls on a day you would otherwise work, you also get an alternative holiday, a paid day off to take at another time, unless you are employed only to work on public holidays.
• Being made to work one: your employer can require it only if the day is one you would otherwise work and your employment agreement says you have to.
• On annual holidays: a public holiday that falls on a day you would otherwise have worked is taken as a public holiday, not as a day of your annual holidays.

An alternative holiday is a full paid day off, however many hours you worked on the public holiday (Employment New Zealand: alternative holidays). You take it on a working day you agree with your employer; if you cannot agree, your employer can choose the day, with at least 14 days' notice. Alternative holidays do not expire, and once 12 months have passed without you taking one, you can ask for it to be paid out instead.

Parental leave

Parental leave (time off, arranged with your employer) and parental leave payments (money from Inland Revenue) are separate, with separate tests. You can qualify for one and not the other.

The leave (Employment New Zealand: parental leave):

• At six months with your employer, averaging at least 10 hours a week, before the due date or the date you become primary carer of a child under 6: up to 26 weeks, usually taken as primary carer leave.
• At twelve months or more: up to 52 weeks, usually 26 weeks' primary carer leave plus up to 26 weeks' extended leave. Extended leave is usually unpaid, and can be shared with an eligible partner (Employment New Zealand: extended leave).
• Primary carer leave starts on the due date or the day the baby is born, whichever comes first, and you can start it up to 6 weeks earlier.
• Partner's leave is unpaid: 1 week at six months, 2 weeks at twelve, taken around the birth or when the child comes into your care.
• Ask in writing at least 3 months before the due date, saying the type of leave, the date you want it to start and how long it will be. If you are giving birth, attach a certificate from your doctor or midwife showing the due date. If a child under 6 is coming into your care, write at least 14 days before you want the leave. Once your employer has what it needs, it has 21 days to tell you whether you are entitled and whether your job can be kept open (Employment New Zealand: requesting parental leave).
• Pregnancy appointments: if you are pregnant, you can also take up to 10 days' unpaid special leave for pregnancy-related reasons such as antenatal classes, scans or midwife appointments (Employment New Zealand: guide for employees).

The payments (Inland Revenue: work requirements):

• The work test: an average of at least 10 hours a week for any 26 weeks in the 52 weeks before the due date, or before the date you become primary carer. As an employee, you can combine the hours from all your jobs.
• Payments last up to 26 weeks, are taxed like wages, and are applied for from Inland Revenue in myIR. You must stop work to qualify (Inland Revenue: paid parental leave).
• Because the tests differ, you may qualify for payments even if you have not been with your employer long enough for the leave, for example if you resign.

Unused leave and your final pay

When a job ends, your final pay must include your wages, all the holiday pay you are entitled to, and any other payments owing. The holiday and leave part must be paid on or before the pay day of your final pay period (Employment New Zealand: final pay).

• Annual holidays you are entitled to and have not taken, paid at the higher of your ordinary weekly pay or your average weekly earnings.
• Plus 8% of your gross earnings since your last anniversary date, or since you started if you have been there less than 12 months, less anything already paid for holidays taken in advance or paid as you go.
• Public holidays that fall in the period your unused annual holidays would have covered, if they fall on days you would have worked.
• Alternative holidays you have not taken, at your relevant daily pay.
• Sick and bereavement leave are not paid out, unless your employment agreement says they will be. Unused family violence leave is not paid out either.

If your final pay looks wrong, raise it with your employer first; Employment New Zealand can help after that. If your job is ending through a restructure, Redundancy in New Zealand covers notice, redundancy pay and your first week, and KiwiSaver and money between jobs covers the money after that.

The law is changing in 2028

The Employment Leave Act 2026 passed into law on 6 August 2026. It replaces the Holidays Act 2003 on 6 August 2028, and changes how annual leave, sick leave, family violence leave, bereavement leave, public holidays and alternative leave are earned, taken and paid (Employment New Zealand: Employment Leave Act 2026). Until then the current rules apply, and an employer cannot start following the new ones early, even if you both agree (Employment New Zealand: changes to leave coming in 2028). Before the new law starts, your employer or union should talk with you about any changes to your agreement and how your leave balance will change. Everything on this page describes the law as it stands today.