For more than 10 years, NZPPA has been helping payroll practitioners prepare for one of the most challenging payroll periods of the year through this practical Christmas Payroll webinar. With public holidays, changing rosters, annual closedowns, advance holiday payments and last-minute resignations all affecting employee entitlements, getting Christmas pay right is essential. Relying on payroll defaults or simply repeating last year’s approach can lead to incorrect payments, employee disputes and costly compliance mistakes.

This essential annual webinar gives payroll practitioners the knowledge and practical guidance needed to prepare, process and check Christmas payroll with confidence. Using real-world seasonal examples, the session covers the critical decisions, calculations and checks required under the Holidays Act, helping you identify potential issues before they become problems, explain employee entitlements and ensure your final pay run is ready for sign-off before the holiday break.

Who Should Attend

Payroll practitioners, payroll team leaders and managers, outsourced payroll processors, and finance or HR staff who provide information or approve Christmas pay. A working knowledge of routine payroll processing is recommended.

Purpose

The Christmas and New Year period presents a combination of payroll challenges that require careful planning and accurate decisions. Public holidays falling on weekends, employees working different shifts or rosters, annual closedowns and overlapping periods of leave can all affect how employees must be paid.

This practical NZPPA webinar works through the rules, calculations and decisions needed to manage Christmas payroll correctly. Participants will explore seasonal examples covering public holiday entitlements, annual holidays, closedowns, ACC absences, advance holiday pay and final pay.

The session will also highlight the information payroll needs from managers, employees and payroll providers, helping practitioners identify exceptions early, apply the correct rules and prepare an accurate pay run before the holiday period begins.

The Dates This Webinar Covers

Public Holiday	Actual Date	Observed for a Usual Monday to Friday Worker
Christmas Day	Fri 25 Dec 2026	Fri 25 Dec 2026
Boxing Day	Sat 26 Dec 2026	Mon 28 Dec 2026
New Year’s Day	Fri 1 Jan 2027	Fri 1 Jan 2027
Day after New Year’s Day	Sat 2 Jan 2027	Mon 4 Jan 2027

Key Topics

The webinar will cover the following practical payroll topics:

1. Identifying and transferring public holidays
2. Working shifts and being on call
3. Annual holidays and customary closedowns
4. Other leave and ACC during the holiday period
5. Advance holiday pay and tax
6. Terminations and public holidays in final pay
7. Preparing and checking the pay run

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Determine the correct public holiday dates, otherwise working days, payments and alternative holiday entitlements for different work patterns.
2. Apply annual holiday, closedown and overlapping leave rules, including the effects of unpaid leave and ACC absences.
3. Identify the correct treatment of advance holiday pay and final pay, including PAYE options and public holidays after termination.
4. Prepare a Christmas payroll plan with clear cut-offs, supporting records, checking responsibilities and arrangements for corrections.

Practical Outcome

Participants will be better equipped to identify potential Christmas payroll issues, apply the relevant public holiday and leave rules, calculate payments and entitlements, and check final pay accurately.

The webinar will also help payroll practitioners establish clear processing cut-offs, identify the information and approvals required, and ensure the Christmas pay run is checked and signed off before the pay office closes.

Webinar Details

Date: 27 November 2026

Time: 9.30 am – 11.30 am

Cost

NZPPA Member: $125 + GST

NZPPA Non-member: $150 + GST

Group Booking Special: Receive a 15% discount for the second attendee onwards when booking two or more people. To arrange a group booking, email training@nzppa.co.nz.