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NZ public holidays by region
Pick your region and year to see every public holiday that applies to you, with Mondayised and Tuesdayised dates clearly flagged.
How to use this tool
- Choose your region. Public holidays are the same nationwide except for the regional anniversary day, which depends on where the employee works (not where the business is registered). Canterbury has two: Canterbury (North & Central) observes Canterbury Anniversary Day in November, and South Canterbury observes Dominion Day in September.
- Choose the year. The list covers last year through three years ahead.
- Read the "Type" column. Holidays marked Mondayised or Tuesdayised actually fall on a Saturday or Sunday that year. The date shown is the day the holiday is treated as falling on for employees who would not normally work that weekend day. Employees who normally work the Saturday or Sunday keep the holiday on the actual date.
- Print it for the staffroom or drop the dates into your roster.
What this tool is for
Every employer in New Zealand has to know which days are public holidays for each employee, because a public holiday that is an otherwise working day is a paid day off, and working it means time and a half plus an alternative holiday. Getting the date wrong, especially in the Christmas and New Year period when Mondayisation applies, is one of the most common payroll errors we see.
This tool shows the 12 public holidays that apply in your region: the 11 national holidays (New Year's Day, the day after New Year's Day, Waitangi Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, King's Birthday, Matariki, Labour Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day) plus your regional anniversary day.
Which public holidays get Mondayised?
Only six national holidays are moved when they fall on a weekend under the Holidays Act 2003:
- Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and 2 January: Saturday moves to the following Monday, Sunday moves to the following Tuesday (because the Monday is already taken by the other holiday in the pair).
- Waitangi Day and Anzac Day: Saturday or Sunday moves to the following Monday.
The move only applies to employees who would not otherwise have worked on the weekend day. For an employee who normally works Saturdays, Christmas Day on a Saturday stays on the Saturday. Good Friday, Easter Monday, King's Birthday, Labour Day and Matariki are always on a Friday or Monday by definition, so they never need moving. Regional anniversary days are not covered by the Mondayisation rules; the day each region observes is set by local custom and is normally already a Monday or Friday.
Dates are sourced from the same public holiday feed RosterMates uses in production and refreshed automatically. The "actually falls on" dates for the six Mondayisable holidays are fixed calendar dates, so the Mondayisation flags are computed from the Act's rules, not guessed. If you spot a discrepancy with the Employment New Zealand list, please tell us.
Next step: is it a working day for your employee?
Knowing the date is half the job. Whether an employee is entitled to anything depends on whether the holiday would otherwise have been a working day for them. Use the otherwise working day calculator, which handles Mondayisation automatically, then the public holiday pay calculator for the dollar amount. The full rules are in our guide How employment leave works in NZ.
More free NZ leave tools
NZ Public Holiday Decision Tree
The 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.
Otherwise working day calculator
Enter 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.
Public holiday pay calculator
Answer three questions and get the exact entitlement: time and a half, alternative holiday, relevant daily pay or average daily pay — with the dollar amount.
NZ leave calculator
Work out annual leave, sick leave and alternative holidays owing for an employee under the Holidays Act.
Want the rules behind the tool? Read the guides in Employment Leave New Zealand.
These tools are general information, not legal advice, and they assume the Holidays Act 2003 as it applies today. Your employment agreements and any company policy may give more than the minimum. Check specific situations with Employment New Zealand or an employment lawyer.