Hospitality rostering software for New Zealand venues
Build the roster, publish it to phones, and keep the leave and licensing records New Zealand hospitality actually has to produce — alternative holidays included.
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Live wage cost in NZD as you build the roster
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Alternative holidays tracked as they are earned
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Duty manager cover visible on every shift
The four things that actually go wrong
Not the generic scheduling problems — the ones specific to running a New Zealand venue.
Alternative holidays quietly accumulate
Someone works Waitangi Day. If it would otherwise have been a working day for them, they are owed a whole paid day off — forever, until it is taken or paid out. Most hospitality businesses discover the balance when someone resigns.
A duty manager has to be on every shift
On licensed premises the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 requires a certificated manager on duty at all times, with their name displayed. That is a rostering constraint, not a paperwork one — and a certificate that lapses takes a person off the roster.
Agreed hours are a contractual term, not a guideline
Zero-hour contracts have been unlawful since 1 April 2016. Rostering someone past their agreed hours needs an availability provision with genuine reasons and reasonable compensation — otherwise they can simply decline.
Break entitlements scale with the shift
A four-hour shift and a seven-hour shift attract different numbers of rest and meal breaks. Building a roster without placing them is how a busy service ends up with the whole floor entitled to a break at once.
Rostering that understands a service peak
Live wage cost in NZD
The cost of the roster updates as you build it, so an extra shift is a decision rather than a discovery on the pay run.
Alternative days tracked automatically
The balance increments when a public holiday is worked on an otherwise working day, instead of depending on somebody remembering.
Certification cover on every shift
See whether a certificated duty manager is rostered, and get warned before a manager’s certificate expires.
The roster on every phone
Published to staff instantly, so a swap updates one version of the truth instead of creating a second.
Clocked hours, not remembered ones
Timestamped clock-in and clock-out, which is the basis of the wage and time records you are required to keep.
Agreed hours visible while rostering
Each person’s agreed hours sit beside the roster, so going past them is a conscious decision about availability.
Built for cafés, restaurants, bars and hotels
Cafés and coffee shops
Early opens and a hard lunch peak, staffed by a mostly part-time team on agreed hours that vary.
Restaurants
Front of house and kitchen planned as two problems, with a service peak that does not move.
Bars and taverns
Licensed premises, which means a certificated duty manager on the roster whenever the doors are open.
Hotels and accommodation
Housekeeping, reception and F&B on different patterns, across a seven-day week.
Wineries and cellar doors
Seasonal peaks around harvest and tourism, with licensing obligations on the tasting room.
Quick service and delivery
Rosters that change on the day, published to phones rather than pinned to a wall.
What New Zealand hospitality has to get right
New Zealand has its own employment system rather than a variant of anyone else's. Four things shape the roster, and three of them have no equivalent across the Tasman.
Alternative holidays
Work a public holiday that would otherwise have been a working day and the employee earns a whole paid day off, on top of at least time and a half for the day itself. It does not expire and is paid out on termination. Eleven public holidays plus the regional anniversary day means a busy venue can accrue a lot of these in a year without anyone writing one down.
Free roster templates with ALT codesAgreed hours and availability
Zero-hour contracts have been unlawful since 1 April 2016. The employment agreement must record agreed hours, and requiring availability beyond them needs genuine reasons on reasonable grounds and reasonable compensation. A roster built on the assumption that people will pick up whatever appears describes an arrangement the Act does not allow.
A certificated duty manager on every shift
On licensed premises the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 requires a manager on duty at all times and responsible for compliance, holding a manager’s certificate, with their name displayed. The licensee must also keep a record of managers, acting managers and temporary managers. This is a hard constraint on who can be rostered, and an expired certificate removes someone from that pool overnight.
Minimum wage and the greater-of test
$23.95 an hour for adults and $19.16 for starting-out and training rates, from 1 April 2026. Annual holidays are separately paid at the greater of ordinary weekly pay and average weekly earnings — which is why payroll holding a single hourly rate per employee cannot calculate New Zealand leave correctly.
Work out annual holiday payCalculate your rostering savings
See how much time and money your business could save with RosterElf rostering software.
Your current rostering
Based on 70% time reduction with automated rostering
Your potential savings
No credit card required
Free roster templates and calculators for NZ venues
Excel downloads and browser tools with no signup, written from New Zealand law rather than adapted from Australia.
Free roster templates
Weekly, fortnightly, monthly, daily and blank rosters with PH and ALT codes.
OpenHolidays Act leave calculator
Annual holiday pay at the greater of ordinary weekly pay and average weekly earnings.
OpenRoster cost calculator
Weekly and annual wage cost in NZD, and labour cost as a share of revenue.
OpenPayroll export checker
Score how ready your hours and leave codes are for a clean Xero or CSV import.
OpenReviews from our customers
Read what our clients have to say about us
Andrew Nathan
November 13, 2025
"We are extremely happy with Roster Elf, it's a great improvement on the previous system we were using. Sean and all the staff have been fantastic, really know their stuff and make using RosterElf a pleasure."
Monica Van De Laak
October 16, 2025
"Sean was an amazing help, very patient and thorough."
Mary C.
October 13, 2025
"I can see my roster, enter availability, put leave in advance and clock on and off easily."
Why New Zealand hospitality teams choose RosterElf
Built for shift-based teams, not adapted from an office HR system
Live wage cost in NZD while you build, not after the pay run
Alternative holidays tracked as they are earned, not reconstructed later
Certification expiry flagged before it takes someone off the duty-manager pool
Works on the phones your team already has, with no per-device cost
Free plan for small venues, with no card required to start
Real support from people who understand your business
Our team can walk you through setting up your venue — agreed hours, alternative holidays and duty manager cover included. No call centre, no ticket queue.
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Help with roster setup and leave settings
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Import your team and go live in a day
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Real people, not a chatbot
5.0 average rating Rated 5.0 by Australian businesses
Hospitality rostering questions
Agreed hours, breaks, alternative holidays and licensing for New Zealand venues.
- 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. Without a compliant provision, an employee can refuse work outside their agreed hours.
- It depends on 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. Timing can be agreed between employer and employee, but the entitlement cannot be contracted out of.
- 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 every employee — hours worked each day, pay, and leave taken and owing. Licensed premises must also keep a record of managers, acting managers and temporary managers under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012.