Public holidays in New Zealand

Holidays in New Zealand can refer to publicly observed holidays or to a holiday period.

National Public holidays

In New Zealand there is one type of national public holiday, these are 'Mondayised' and those that are not.

Christmas and New Year are ‘Mondayised’ holidays, so if these fall on a weekend that employee does not normally work then the holiday is transferred to the following Monday or Tuesday. If the employee would normally work on the particular weekend then it remains a traditional holiday and the employee is entitled to that day off on pay. If they normally work on both days, they are only entitled to the traditional holiday and the Mondayised holiday is treated as a normal work day. Other public holidays are only taken on the day they fall and only employees who would have otherwise worked that day are entitled to a paid day off.

All workers who work on a public holiday must be both paid time-and-a-half and given an alternative holiday (known as a day in lieu). Payment for the alternative holiday is equivalent relevant daily pay for the particular alternative day taken, had they have worked it.

While shops may trade on most public holidays, there are special trading restrictions on Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and before 1pm on ANZAC Day. In recent years there have been deliberate violations of these trading restrictions on Good Friday by garden centres. (Previously, garden centres were exempt from these restrictions.)

In tourist towns, such as Queenstown in the South Island, some exemptions are granted by the district council for selected shops to open on Good Friday. The reason being is to keep up the level of service to the tourists, as many would not know the shops will be closed on that day. However, liquor sale is restricted for some of that day (not usually a problem because shops are usually closed on that day).

Statutory holidays

Statutory holidays are legislated by several Acts of Parliament, particularly the Holidays Act 2003.

Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day are always commemorated on the exact date, as they commemorate specific historical events. Apart from Good Friday the other New Zealand Statutory Holidays have been Mondayised.

For example: If 1 January or 25 December is a Saturday or Sunday, then the following Monday is the statutory holiday for New Year's Day or Christmas Day. If 2 January or 26 December is a Saturday, then the Day after New Year's Day or Boxing Day is celebrated on the next Monday. If either of these days occurs on a Sunday, then the holiday occurs on the following Tuesday, as the Monday will have been used for New Year or Christmas.

This situation has been complicated by the most recent incarnation of the Holidays Act. The holiday is Mondayised only if the employee would not usually work on weekends. For example an office worker who works only Monday to Friday would get to the Statutory holidays on the Monday (or Tuesday for days that fell on Sundays). But an employee who usually worked Saturdays would not get the Monday holiday as they did not work on the Saturday.

Date	Holiday
1 January1	New Year's Day
2 January2	Day after New Year's Day
6 February	Waitangi Day
The Friday before Easter Sunday	Good Friday
The day after Easter Sunday	Easter Monday
25 April	Anzac Day
The first Monday in June	Queen's Birthday
The fourth Monday in October	Labour Day
25 December1	Christmas Day
26 December2	Boxing Day
(1) or the following Monday if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday
(2) or the following Monday if it falls on a Saturday, or the following Tuesday if it falls on a Sunday

Provincial anniversary days

Additionally, the Holidays Act 1981 specifies each locality observing a Provincial Anniversary Day to celebrate the founding days or landing days of the first colonists of the various colonial provinces, however the exact dates are not legislated for. The regions covered are set by provincial district (as they stood when abolished in 1876), plus Southland, the Chatham Islands, South Canterbury and Northland. The actual observance days can vary even within each province and is due to local custom, convenience or the proximity of seasonal events or other holidays and may differ from the official observance day.

Provincial Anniversary Days

Provincial District	includes	Actual Day	Observance Day
Southland	Invercargill, Bluff, Milford Sound, Fiordland	17 January	Varies – determined by local custom and tourist season.
Wellington Province	Wellington, Manawatu, Wanganui	22 January	Monday nearest to the actual day
Auckland Province	Waikato, King Country, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne/East Coast	29 January	Monday nearest to the actual day (Auckland Anniversary Day)
Northland	Whangarei	29 January	Monday nearest to the actual day
Nelson	Nelson, Tasman, Buller and parts of North Canterbury	1 February	Monday nearest to the actual day
Otago Province	Dunedin, Queenstown	23 March	Monday nearest to the actual day (this can vary if it would otherwise coincide with Easter Monday)
Taranaki (New Plymouth)	New Plymouth	31 March	Second Monday in March – to avoid Easter
South Canterbury		25 September	Fourth Monday in September – Dominion Day
Hawke's Bay	Napier, Hastings	1 November	Friday before Labour Day
Marlborough	Blenheim, Picton	1 November	First Monday after Labour Day
Canterbury	Christchurch, Ashburton	16 November	Christchurch Show Day (Northern Canterbury)
			Christchurch Show Day (Central Canterbury)
			Second Friday after the first Tuesday in November (Christchurch City) – To coincide with the Agricultural and Pastoral Show.
Chatham Islands		30 November	Monday nearest to the actual day
Westland	Hokitika, Greymouth	1 December	Monday nearest to the actual day (Greymouth)
			Varies (outside Greymouth)

Annual leave and non-working days

In addition to the above holidays all New Zealand workers must be given four weeks annual leave, often taken in the summer Christmas – New Year period. (As New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere, the summer months are from December to February, and the best summer weather often occurs during January and February.) In many industries this coincides with a Christmas – New Year shutdown for maintenance. With only three working days between Christmas and New Year, many workers take this time off, as they can have a ten-day summer break for only three days' leave. Many retail outlets also hold sales at this time to stimulate business while others close down due to low demand for services. The days from 25 December to 15 January are not considered to be working days for official government purposes. The public counters of most government departments do open on weekdays during this period, though often only a limited service may be available.

From 1 April 2007, the minimum annual leave is four weeks.

School holidays

New Zealand schools have a 4-term year, of about ten weeks each and usually with a two week holiday between terms. Although standard term dates are set by the Ministry of Education each year, schools can vary these to account for local holidays and school closures due to weather. The first term commences in late January or early February. Occasionally, Easter holidays and/or ANZAC day may fall within these holidays. The holiday between terms two and three is generally known as the midwinter break and occurs in July, while that between terms 3 and 4 occurs in late September, early October. Term 4 ends in mid December, generally a week or two before Christmas, though for many senior students this term ends after their final NCEA examination in late November or early December.

Proposals for new holidays

From time to time, there have been proposals to make Matariki an official holiday in New Zealand. In 2006, Māori Language Commissioner Haami Piripi made such a proposal [1]. Also, following the death of Sir Edmund Hillary, the Green Party proposed a public holiday in his honour [2].

Proposals for abolition of holidays

Some holidays are seen as celebrating events or ideals which are seen by a minority of people as no longer relevant, and suggestions have been made that they be abolished.

From the 1950s to the 1970s it was frequently suggested that the Provincial Anniversary holidays be abolished, as the provinces had not existed for many decades. Before Waitangi Day was made a national public holiday it was sometimes suggested that a Waitangi Day holiday should replace the anniversary days, and the Waitangi Day Act 1960 made provision for this. Waitangi Day was eventually made an additional holiday and the provincial holidays lived on, primarily because most regions had long established events on those weekends.

A small minority of people advocate the abolition of the Waitangi Day holiday, but it is regularly suggested that a less controversial day, such as Anzac Day (25 April) or Dominion Day (26 September), be made New Zealand's national day.

External links

• Government Holidays Act website
• New Zealand public holiday dates in iCalendar format
• 2009 to 2011 State School Terms and Holidays - by NZ Ministry of Education
• New Zealand public holidays - specific dates for the current year (New Zealand Department of Labour)
• New Zealand public holidays - specific dates for future years (New Zealand Department of Labour)

New Zealand list of Unofficial Observances