Postscript

New holidays legislation

The complexities of calculating holiday pay and other leave provisions under the current Holidays Act 2003 should be a thing of the past when new legislation is expected to be introduced to Parliament mid-year.

A government-appointed taskforce has made recommendations to simplify provisions and to provide a commonsense application in the workplace. It is proposed, for example, to allow employees to take annual leave on a pro rata basis during their first year of employment rather than having to wait a full year before being entitled to paid annual leave.

The advent of this new legislation will, we hope, bring much relief to not only employees but also payroll staff who have had to grapple with the anomalies of the current Act. +

Minimum wage increased from 1 April

In February, the government announced that from 1 April 2022 the minimum wage would rise to $21.20/per hour.

It also announced that the starting-out and training minimum wage rate would increase from $16.00 to $16.96/hour from 1 April.

All employers should ensure their records are up-to-date and that they are paying their employees the correct hourly rate. +

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