Holidays Act 2003

If you need more information about this Act, please contact the administering agency: Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment

Key terms defined

8 Meaning of ordinary weekly pay

(1)

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, ordinary weekly pay, for the purposes of calculating annual holiday pay,—

(a)

means the amount of pay that the employee receives under his or her employment agreement for an ordinary working week; and

(b)

includes—

(i)

productivity or incentive-based payments (including commission) if those payments are a regular part of the employee’s pay:

(ii)

payments for overtime if those payments are a regular part of the employee’s pay:

(iii)

the cash value of any board or lodgings provided by the employer to the employee; but

(c)

excludes—

(i)

productivity or incentive-based payments that are not a regular part of the employee’s pay:

(ii)

payments for overtime that are not a regular part of the employee’s pay:

(iii)

any one-off or exceptional payments:

(iv)

any discretionary payments that the employer is not bound, under the terms of the employee’s employment agreement, to pay the employee:

(v)

any payment of any employer contribution to a superannuation scheme for the benefit of the employee.

(2)

If it is not possible to determine an employee’s ordinary weekly pay under subsection (1), the pay must be calculated in accordance with the following formula:

a − b
c

where—

a

is the employee’s gross earnings for—

(i)

the 4 calendar weeks before the end of the pay period immediately before the calculation is made; or

(ii)

if the employee’s normal pay period is longer than 4 weeks, that pay period immediately before the calculation is made

b

is the total amount of payments described in subsection (1)(c)(i) to (iii)

c

is 4.

(3)

However, an employment agreement may specify a special rate of ordinary weekly pay for the purpose of calculating annual holiday pay if the rate is equal to, or greater than, what would otherwise be calculated under subsection (1) or subsection (2).

Compare: 1981 No 15 s 4

Section 8(1)(c)(iv): amended (with effect on 17 May 2007), on 19 December 2007, by section 119 of the Taxation (KiwiSaver) Act 2007 (2007 No 110).

Section 8(1)(c)(v): added (with effect on 17 May 2007), on 19 December 2007, by section 119 of the Taxation (KiwiSaver) Act 2007 (2007 No 110).