Free staff roster templates for New Zealand

If an employee works on a public holiday that would otherwise have been a working day for them, they get a whole paid day off to take later — an alternative holiday, often called a day in lieu — as well as being paid at least time and a half for the day worked. If the public holiday would not otherwise have been a working day, they are paid for the hours worked but no alternative day is earned.

It asks whether the employee would have worked on that day had it not been a public holiday or a day of leave. For someone on a fixed roster the answer is usually obvious. Where hours vary you look at the employment agreement, the roster history, how often they work that day, and what both parties intended. It decides public holiday pay, alternative days and most leave payments — which is why keeping past rosters matters.

Eleven national public holidays — New Year’s Day, 2 January, Waitangi Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, King’s Birthday, Matariki, Labour Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day — plus the regional anniversary day for wherever the employee works. Matariki and the anniversary day both move each year, so check the dates rather than copying last year’s roster.

Four weeks of paid annual holidays after 12 months of continuous employment, under the Holidays Act 2003. Sick leave is 10 days after six months and then each 12 months, accumulating to a maximum of 20 days. Annual holidays are paid at the greater of ordinary weekly pay and average weekly earnings, which is why a spreadsheet holding a single hourly rate cannot calculate them.

The Employment Leave Act 2026 replaces the Holidays Act 2003 on 6 August 2028, moving annual leave from a weeks-based entitlement to hours-based accrual from day one. Until then the Holidays Act applies as it does today. The input that change needs is accurate hours per employee — which is exactly what a roster and a timesheet produce.

It depends on the hours worked in a work period. Between 2 and 4 hours: one 10-minute paid rest break. More than 4 and up to 6 hours: one 10-minute paid rest break and one 30-minute unpaid meal break. More than 6 and under 10 hours: two 10-minute paid rest breaks and one 30-minute unpaid meal break. Breaks can be agreed at different times, but the entitlement itself cannot be contracted out of.

No. They have been unlawful since 1 April 2016. An employment agreement must record the agreed hours of work. An employer can include an availability provision requiring an employee to be available beyond those hours, but only where there are genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds and the employee receives reasonable compensation for that availability. An employee can refuse work outside their agreed hours if there is no compliant availability provision.

Not by law. New Zealand has no award system and no statutory penalty rates — any weekend, night or overtime premium comes from the employment agreement. The hard floor is the minimum wage: $23.95 an hour for adults and $19.16 for starting-out and training rates, from 1 April 2026.

The Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Holidays Act 2003 require wage and time records and holiday and leave records for each employee, including hours worked each day, pay, and leave taken and owing. Rosters are part of the evidence for the “otherwise working day” test, so keeping them is worthwhile even though the roster itself is not the statutory record.