Holidays in New Zealand

Holidays in New Zealand can refer to publicly observed holidays or to a vacation period.

Public holidays

Public holidays have particular implications for employment and shop trading hours in New Zealand.

For employment purposes, under current legislation, workers who work on a public holiday must be given the equivalent time off on another day, and paid time-and-a-half. Their holidays cannot be exchanged for cash.

While shops may trade on most public holidays, there are special trading restrictions on Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and before 1 PM on ANZAC Day. In recent years there has been deliberate violations of these trading restrictions on Good Friday and Easter Sunday by garden centres. (Previously, garden centres were exempt from these restrictions.)

In tourist towns, such as Queenstown in the South Island, some exemptions are granted by the district council for selected shops to open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The reason being is to keep up the level of service to the tourists, as many would not know the shops will be closed on those public holidays. However, liquor sale is restricted in some of those public holidays (not usually a problem because shops are usually closed on those public holidays).

In Easter 2004, a large supermarket in Wanaka is being sued for opening during all days of the Easter Weekend. The police argued that it was illegal to do so, because Wanaka is not a tourist town. But the owner of the shop claimed he had done so in that shop since he opened years ago.

There are two types of public holidays:

• Statutory Holidays, which are legislated by law.
• Provincial Anniversary Days, which commemorate the founding of the province or an early settlement event.

Statutory holidays

These holidays are legislated by several Acts of Parliament, particularly the Holidays Act 1981.

Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day are always commemorated on the exact date as they commemorate specific historical events. Apart from Good Friday the other New Zealand Statutory Holidays have been Mondayised. Easter Sunday has been both Mondayised and subsequently declared a statutory holiday when Sunday shop trading restrictions were relaxed.

For example: If January 1 or December 25 is a Saturday or Sunday, then the following Monday is the statutory holiday for New Year's Day or Christmas Day. If January 2 or December 26 is a Saturday, then the Day after New Year's Day or Boxing Day is celebrated on the next Monday. If either of these days occurs on a Sunday, then the holiday occurs on the following Tuesday, as the Monday will have been used for New Year's or Christmas.

Provincial anniversary days

Additionally, the Holidays Act 1981 specifies each locality observing a Provincial Anniversary Day to celebrate the founding days or landing days of the first colonists of the various colonial provinces. However the exact dates are not legislated for. The regions covered are set by provincial district (as they stood when abolished in 1876), plus Southland, the Chatham Islands, South Canterbury and Northland. The actual observance days can vary even within each province and is due to local custom, convenience or the proximity of seasonal events or other holidays. This may differ from the official observance day, and may be several weeks from the official day.

Annual leave and non-working days

In addition to the above holidays many New Zealand workers have three weeks vacation, often taken in the summer Christmas – New Year period. (As New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere, the summer months are from December to February. Also the best summer weather often occurs during January and February.) In many industries this coincides with a Christmas – New Year shutdown for maintenance. With only 3 working days between Christmas and New Year, many workers take this time off, as they can have a 10 day summer break for only 3 days leave. Many retail outlets also hold sales at this time to stimulate business while others close down due to low demand for services. The days from 25 December to 15 January are not considered to be working days for official government purposes, although the public counters of most government departments do open weekdays during this period, though often only a limited service may be available.

From 1 April 2007, the minimum annual leave is four weeks.

School holidays

New Zealand schools (now) have a 4 term year, of about 10 weeks each and 2 or 3 weeks holidays between terms. Although standard term dates are set by the Ministry of Education each year, schools can vary these to account for local holidays and school closures due to weather. The first term generally commences in late January and finishes so that Easter is celebrated within the holidays between terms 1 and 2. The holidays between terms 2 and 3 are generally known as the midwinter break and occur in July. While those between terms 3 and 4 occur in late September and early October. Term 4 ends in mid December, generally a week or two before Christmas, though for many senior students this term ends after their final examinations in early December.

The 2004 holiday dates for primary and intermediate schools are

• Term 1: Tuesday January 27 to Thursday April 8.
• Term 2: Monday April 26 to Friday July 2
• Term 3: Monday July 19 to Friday September 17.
• Term 4: Monday October 4 to Tuesday December 14 or a date ensuring a school has been open for instruction for 394 half-days in 2004.

The 2004 holiday dates for secondary schools are the same except that Term 4 ends December 3, or a date ensuring the school has been open for instruction for 380 half-days in 2004.

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