Please Note: We do not usually run this course as a virtual course, so this is a special one-time session.

Understanding and applying the rules, risks and requirements of employee leave is an essential skill for any organisation. Without knowledge of the different types of leave, when employees become eligible, and what they should be paid and how this is calculated, it can become very costly, with potential legal challenges possible.

Payroll professionals and anyone managing or paying employees regarding employee leave entitlements.

COURSE CONTENT

Holidays Act 2003

• Annual holidays– eligibility, continuous employment, cashing up, rules, and how AWE and OWP and 8% are applied and calculated.
• Sick leave– eligibility, continuous employment, rules, and how RDP and ADP are applied and calculated.
• Bereavement Leave– eligibility, continuous employment, rules, and how RDP and ADP are applied and calculated.
• Family violence leaves– eligibility, continuous employment, rules, and how RDP and ADP are applied and calculated.
• Public holidays– rules, how they transfer to another day, time and half, and how RDP and ADP are applied and calculated.
• Alternative holidays– Otherwise working days, paying out, rules, and how RDP and ADP are applied and calculated.

Parental Leave and Employment Protection 1987

Types of leave, eligibility, and timeframe:

• Special leave,
• Primary carers leave
• Partners leave
• Extended leave
• Negotiated carers leave
• Keeping in touch days
• Process, timeframes, letters, and forms
• Parental leave is counted as continuous employment, and how that impacts leave under the Holidays Act 2003

Module 2 – Other Types of Leave

• Education Leave under the ERA Act 2000
• Jury and Witness Leave
• Volunteers Employment Protection Act 1973
• Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002
• Other types of leave provided by agreement: Long Service Leave etc.

Module 3: Managing Employee Leave & Final Pays (regarding leave)

Managing employee leave and final pay (about leave):

• Payroll reports and tracking employee absenteeism
• Leave liability (what it is and how to manage it)
• Leave forms and keeping Leave Records

Final pay regarding leave entitlements and accrual:

• Calculating any leave entitlement to be paid out in an employee’s final pay

Module 4: Advanced Employee Leave Topics

Holidays Act 2003:

• Defining payments to be included in different periods of gross earnings.
• Discretionary payments
• How does backpay impact the Holidays Act gross earnings
• Double-dipping issues with taxable allowances and their impact on the Holidays Act
• Changing the working week (by agreement) and the impact on annual holiday entitlement.
• Calculating leave in hours, days, and weeks to still ensure compliance.
• Converting hours, days, and weeks when entitlement changes by agreement.
• Understanding the divisor for leave calculations (AWE, OWP, ADP).
• Determining an otherwise working day when the employee works a variable work pattern.
• Transferring public holidays: Christmas/New Year, Waitangi Day and Anzac Day.
• Determining an accrual rate for annual leave based on a day/week/month (by agreement).

Payments from Holidays Act Remediation:

• Effects of underpayments on gross earnings.
• How remediation payments are taxed and how it impacts gross earnings in the future.

Parental Leave:

• Extended examples of the impact of parental leave on gross earnings for annual holiday entitlement before, during, and on return to work from parental leave.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Apply the correct payment to the correct gross earnings period
• Identify what calculations must be used for leave entitlements provided under the Holidays Act 2003
• State the types of parental leave available under the act and the rules of how they are applied when taken.
• List the other types of leave entitlements provided by law to an employee.