Holidays Act Review

14 June 2018

Our experience is that, even with the best will in the world, there are very few employers managing to pay their people correctly at present.  Nothing about the current laws enables a systemized approach to the calculation of holiday pay.  There is a myriad of work patterns and hours across businesses these days, and the complexity has created a situation where employers have found themselves both over and underpaying staff.

The payroll systems available in the market need various “workarounds” to attempt compliance, and none are going to invest in their systems until it is clear what the new rules will be. That means more tough times ahead on this front for the next 18 months or so.

As with the FPA, the review group will comprise employer, worker and government representatives, chaired by Professor Gordon Anderson from Victoria University.  Their job will not be easy due to the Ministers’ decree that no employee is to be worse off under any new system.