Coping with Waitangi Day Mondayisation

Posted 26 January 2016 by Mike Johnson Waitangi Day, public holidays, mondayisation;

Next month Waitangi Day falls on Saturday 6th, and the law means that if that is not a working day for you, it is observed on Monday 8th.  So what does this mean for individuals you employ?

1. Staff members who normally work Mondays but not Saturdays – if they work Monday 8th they will get paid time and a half for the hours they work on the Monday and be entitled to a day off in lieu;
2. Staff members who normally would work the Saturday and the Monday – any hours they work on the Saturday are time and a half and they would get a day in lieu – but the Monday is normal time and pay.
3. So, if you close your business on Saturday 6th but not Monday 8th, staff who normally work Saturdays will receive their normal pay for the Saturday and work the Monday on normal pay; while others will be paid time and a half for the Monday!
4. And for Monday-Friday businesses – if you remain open for business on the Monday it will mean time and a half for everyone that works.
5. What if you open on the Saturday and ask someone, who normally works Mondays but not Saturdays, to work on the Saturday? Well, because the Saturday would not normally be a working day for the employee it is the Monday that is the public holiday for them.  The law precludes them for having both days as public holidays. So they would be paid normal time for the Saturday but time and a half and a day in lieu for the Monday (or normal time for the Monday if they do not work it). 

Clear as mud – or you have a situation not covered above, give me a call and I’ll help you figure it out?