Preparing for Upcoming Holidays Act Legislation Changes

To effectively prepare for the upcoming changes in legislation, it is important to fully understand what these updates entail. Business Canterbury will keep you informed and can help advocate for your views during the consultation process. 

Understanding the upcoming legislation updates

A review of the Holidays Act announced was announced on 5 June 2024. A draft is due to be released for targeted consultation in September this year. The draft will include (along with other changes):

• A proposed approach to pro-rata sick leave so that there is some proportionality to how much an employee works;​
• Moving from a weeks-based entitlement system to a weeks-based accrual system for providing annual leave entitlement;​
• Simpler methodologies for calculating use of leave that do not require pay systems to access data about daily hours of work;​
• Objective criteria for using pay-as-you-go for annual leave and a less burdensome review process; and​
• Clarification that only full pay periods need to be included in 13-week reference periods
  

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Preparing for Change

Once we have a clear understanding of the the updates post-consultation process, the next step will be for you to assess the impact these will have on your business. For example, how will these changes will affect your current policies, procedures and operations and then ascertain whether you need to make any adjustments or updates to ensure compliance with the new legislation.

Additionally, it is important to provide training and communication for your team to educate them about the changes and how they may impact them. You may consider offering training sessions or workshops to help them understand the new changes. Open lines of communication with your team to address any questions or concerns they may have. Encourage an open dialogue and creation of an environment where employees feel comfortable seeking clarification or raising issues, to help ensure a smooth transition.