Luke is very excited about the impending birth of his first child and is taking the time to reflect on his life so far. As he is driving to the store to pick up some groceries, he recalls the first job he ever had – working as a bartender in a lovely little Scottish pub in Dunedin. His pay wasn’t significant back in those days, but he worked hard and he saved his pennies. It wasn’t long before he’d saved up enough to go on a big holiday!

Luke had always dreamed of flying to Indonesia to see the Komodo dragons in the wild. Once he was sure he had enough in the bank, he went to ask his manager, Mr Moyes, if he could have some time off.

“Tell me lad,” Mr Moyes said, furrowing his brow, “how long have you been working for me now?”

“Why, nearly six months, Mr Moyes! I reckon I deserve a break” Luke said, sheepishly. Beads of sweat began to drip down his pimply face.

“Well, Luke,” Mr Moyes began, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, “it’s not that I don’t think you deserve a nice holiday. Aye, you’re an excellent worker, and you have a knowledge of whisky as fine as any Scotsman! But I just wonder, won’t the shortfall from the lack of wages during your holiday be an issue?”

Luke gulped.

“But sir, I thought I would simply take annual leave. After all, I’ve accrued ten days’ worth. That’s more than enough for my holiday, assuming it doesn’t take longer than that to find the Komodo dragons.”

“Well, you see Luke,” Mr Moyes responded, offering a wry grin. “Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, you can’t actually take annual leave until you’ve been working continuously at the same place for 12 months. You continue to accrue it, yes, but there’s no entitlement to actually take the accrued leave until your first anniversary of employment. You can take annual leave you’ve accrued before then, but this is at my sole discretion, being your gaffer and all”.

“Oh,” Luke exclaimed, crestfallen. He had so been looking forward to travelling to Indonesia. Mr Moyes looked him up and down and sighed.

“Tell ya what lad, I think we’ll manage without you. You can take the leave you’ve accrued, no problem”.

Luke jumped for joy. He was going to Indonesia! He paused, wondering if he could try his luck further.

“Actually Mr Moyes, how would you feel if I went to Indonesia for three weeks instead of two?” Mr Moyes jumped out of his seat.

“That’s a bit cheeky!” he said, his eyes as big as wagon wheels. “But alright, you can take leave that you haven’t accrued yet in this country too, also at my own discretion. Just be warned, though. If you leave my employ before you’ve accrued that extra week of leave, I’ll require you to pay me back. Every cent!”

Mr Moyes’s warning fell on deaf ears though, as Luke could think only about Indonesia, sipping on coconuts and surveying the local fauna.

Of course, Mr Moyes was right.  Most employees are entitled to four weeks of annual holidays, and they start accruing this leave from their first day on the job. Accrued leave then sits there, unused, until the 12-month anniversary of your employment. Your employer can let you take the leave you’ve accrued before the 12-month anniversary, but this is at their sole discretion.

You can also take leave before you’ve accrued it but this can be risky, as you may have to pay your employer the difference, if you resign before it’s accrued.

Luke snapped back to reality. He hadn’t worked for Mr Moyes for some time now, but he would always remember his words and his warning. He smiled, and thought about the life lessons he would pass down to his child. Unfortunately, contemplating this was very distracting for Luke, and he crashed into the car in front of him! Luckily, no one was hurt, but Luke wondered what Sally would think of him crashing her brand new Tesla…

Jamie Graham