The RosterMates Blog

Plain-English, fact-checked guides for New Zealand employers and managers. Pick a category, then a subtopic.

Categories

Each category is broken into subtopics so you can jump straight to the answer.

Employment Leave New Zealand

8 published · 4 in progress

The Holidays Act 2003, every NZ leave type, and the Employment Leave Act that replaces it in 2028 — explained in plain English.

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Rostering & Workforce Management

Coming soon

Building better rosters, time and attendance, and running shift-based teams in New Zealand.

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  • Time & attendance
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Free rostering & leave tools

Roster templates, a roster generator and the Holidays Act calculators: the same logic our software runs, free for anyone to use.

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NZ Public Holiday Decision TreeThe complete public holiday check in one interactive tree: which date the holiday falls on for the employee (Mondayisation), then time and a half, alternative holidays, RDP or ADP, with the path shown. Open NZ public holidays by regionPick your region and year to see every public holiday that applies to you, with Mondayised and Tuesdayised dates clearly flagged. Open Otherwise working day calculatorEnter an employee's work pattern (or their last 13 weeks) and a date or public holiday. Find out whether it is an otherwise working day and what they are entitled to. Open Public holiday pay calculatorAnswer three questions and get the exact entitlement: time and a half, alternative holiday, relevant daily pay or average daily pay — with the dollar amount. Open Free staff roster templatesDownload ready-to-use Excel roster templates: weekly, fortnightly, 7-day rotating, 4-on-4-off and 24/7 three-shift patterns, with NZ public holidays marked. Open Free roster generatorType in your staff, pick the days and shifts you need covered, and get a fair, printable weekly roster in seconds. Download it to Excel or print it. Open
NZ leave calculatorWork out annual leave, sick leave and alternative holidays owing for an employee under the Holidays Act. Soon

Latest guides

Newest first.

Every NZ leave type explained

Annual leave in New Zealand, explained

Four weeks after 12 months, how it is paid (ordinary weekly pay vs average weekly earnings), cashing up, closedowns and what happens on termination.

18 min read Updated 16 Sep 2026
Every NZ leave type explained

Sick leave in New Zealand, explained

10 days a year after six months, carry-over up to 20 days, medical certificates, and using sick leave for dependants.

14 min read Updated 16 Sep 2026
Every NZ leave type explained

Parental leave in New Zealand, explained

Primary carer leave, partner's leave, extended leave, government paid parental leave and the changes arriving 1 July 2027.

17 min read Updated 16 Sep 2026