Holidays in New Zealand
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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 equivalent time off on another day, and be 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 1pm on ANZAC Day. In recent years there has been deliberate violations of these trading restrictions on Good Friday 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).
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 2003.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.
For example: If 1 January or 25 December is a Saturday or Sunday, then the following Monday is the statutory holiday for New Year's Day or Christmas Day. If 2 January or 26 December 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 or Christmas.
This situation has been complicated by the most recent incarnation of the Holidays Act. The holiday is Mondayised only if the employee would not usually work on weekends. For example an office worker who works only Monday to Friday would get to the Statutory holidays on the Monday (or Tuesday for days that fell on Sundays). But an employee who usually worked Saturdays would not get the Monday holiday as they did not work on the Saturday.
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| January 11 | New Year's Day |
| January 22 | Day after New Year's Day |
| February 6 | Waitangi Day |
| The Friday before Easter Sunday | Good Friday |
| The first Sunday after the first full moon following the March Equinox | Easter Sunday |
| The day after Easter Sunday | Easter Monday |
| April 25 | ANZAC Day |
| The first Monday in June | Queen's Birthday |
| The fourth Monday in October | Labour Day |
| December 251 | Christmas Day |
| December 262 | Boxing Day |
| (1) or the following Monday if it falls on a weekend | |
| (2) or the following Monday or Tuesday if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday | |
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.
| Provincial District | includes | Actual Day | Observance Day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southland | Invercargill, Bluff, Milford Sound, Fiordland | January 17 | Varies – determined by local custom and tourist season. |
| Wellington Province | Wellington, Manawatu, Wanganui | January 22 | Monday nearest to the actual day |
| Auckland Province | Waikato, King Country, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne/East Coast | January 29 | Monday nearest to the actual day |
| Northland | Whangarei | January 29 | Monday nearest to the actual day |
| Nelson | Nelson, Tasman, Buller and parts of North Canterbury | February 1 | Monday nearest to the actual day |
| Otago Province | Dunedin | March 23 | Monday nearest to the actual day |
| Taranaki (New Plymouth) | New Plymouth | March 31 | Second Monday in March – to avoid Easter |
| South Canterbury | September 25 | Fourth Monday in September – Dominion Day | |
| Hawke's Bay | Napier, Hastings | November 1 | Friday before Labour Day |
| Marlborough | Picton | November 1 | First Monday after Labour Day |
| Chatham Islands | November 30 | Monday nearest to the actual day | |
| Westland | Westport, Greymouth | December 1 | Monday nearest to the actual day (Greymouth) |
| Varies (outside Greymouth) | |||
| Canterbury | Christchurch, Ashburton, Banks Peninsula | December 16 | Christchurch Show Day (Northern Canterbury) |
| Christchurch Show Day (Central Canterbury) | |||
| Second Friday after the first Tuesday in November (Christchurch City) – To coincide with the Agricultural and Pastoral Show and avoid a holiday just a week before Christmas. | |||
Annual leave and non-working days
In addition to the above holidays many New Zealand workers have three or four 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, and 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 have a 4-term year, of about 10 weeks each and with 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 holiday between terms 2 and 3 is generally known as the midwinter break and occurs in July, while that between terms 3 and 4 occurs 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 NCEA examinations in early December.Primary and Intermediate schools
Term 1: Tuesday, 7 February to Thursday 13 April (96 half-days)Term 2: Wendnesday, 26 April to Friday, 30 June (94 half-days)
Term 3: Monday, 17 July to Friday, 22 September (100 half-days)
Term 4: Monday, 9 October to Wednesday 20 December (104 half-days)*
Secondary and composite schools
Term 1: Tuesday, 7 February to Thursday 13 April (96 half-days)Term 2: Monday, 1 May to Friday 30 June (88 half-days)
Term 3: Monday, 17 July to Friday 22 September (100 half-days)
Term 4: Monday, 9 October to Thursday 14 December (96 half-days)*
Proposals for new holidays
From time to time, there have been proposals to make Matariki an official holiday in New Zealand. In 2006, Māori Language Commissioner Haami Piripi made such a proposal [link].External link
- [Government Holidays Act website]
- [2006 to 2009 State School Terms and Holidays - by NZ Ministry of Education]
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