- Business Shutdown – Leave Management Plan: Have you worked out your team’s Leave Management Plan? If your business traditionally shuts down over the festive season you need to plan closing and opening days, check if anyone needs to work during the closedown, get your team sending in their leave requests, and start organising! Check out People in Mind’s excellent article on ‘Planning Leave for the festive season’: https://www.peopleinmind.co.nz/planning-for-the-festive-season/
- Wages & Salary payments to employees when they fall on a Public Holiday: If pay day falls on a public holiday, employees must be paid on the last working day BEFORE the public holiday. If your employee is happy to be paid after the Public Holidays this is acceptable but remember all discussions with employees should be made in ‘good faith’.
- Tax on Lump Sum Payments – Extra Pays: Lump sum payments include annual or special bonuses, cashed-in annual leave, retiring or redundancy payments, back pay, lump sum holiday pay, plus more. See more at: https://www.ird.govt.nz/employing-staff/payday-filing/non-standard-filing-of-employment-information/lump-sum-payments
- Paying Bonuses – Are they discretionary? There is a lot of confusion around paying bonuses and implications on an employee’s leave rate. If the payment is not in an employee’s employment agreement the payment is a DISCRETIONARY PAYMENT. This will not be included in the gross earnings when calculating the value of annual leave. This may apply to a Christmas bonus, but check your employment agreement. ‘Discretionary payments’ are defined by MBIE on this page: https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/calculating-payments-for-leave-and-holidays/gross-earnings/
- Public Holidays – What is an ‘otherwise working day’? It’s important to be able to work out whether a day is an ‘otherwise working day’ for an employee to work out their entitlements. Where it is unclear, an employer and employee must reach an agreement based on several factors. Check out these links: https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/otherwise-working-day/ https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/public-holidays/
- Alternative Days: An employee gets an Alternative Day for working on a public holiday that is an ‘otherwise working day’. We recommend employees use the Alternative Day, where possible, soon after the Public Holiday worked. Want to know more, check out: https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/alternative-holidays/
Payroll team at Accounted4
Anne Bland Extension 831 Email anne.b@accounted4.co.nz
Carolyn Lawrence Extension 837 Email carolyn.l@accounted4.co.nz
Kate Crookston Extension 825 Email kate.c@accounted4.co.nz
