Annual Leave / Public Holidays in New Zealand


The legal minimum annual-leave in New Zealand is currently four weeks, plus eleven days of public-holidays. Many companies offer longer holidays – five weeks is possible – linked to the number of years you have worked for the company, or possibly negotiated from the time you begin a new job.

In addition to these ten days, each region / city has one public holiday on its anniversary day. For example, the 2020 local public holidays are; Auckland – 27 January, Christchurch – 13 November and Wellington – 20 January.

The ten Public holidays for 2019 are:

Holiday 2019 Dates
New Year’s DayTuesday 1 January
Post New Year’s DayWednesday 2 January
Waitangi DayWednesday 6 February
Good FridayFriday 19 April
Easter MondayMonday 22 April
ANZAC DayThursday 25 April
Queen’s BirthdayMonday 3 June
Labour DayMonday 28 October
Christmas DayWednesday 25 December
Boxing DayThursday 26 December

The ten Public holidays for 2020 are:

Holiday 2020 Dates
New Year’s DayWednesday 1 January
Post New Year’s DayThursday 2 January
Waitangi DayThursday 6 February
Good FridayFriday 10 April
Easter MondayMonday 13 April
ANZAC DaySaturday 25 April
Queen’s BirthdayMonday 1 June
Labour DayMonday 26 October
Christmas DayFriday 25 December
Boxing DaySaturday 26 December

The Anniversary Day of the Province in which an employee works are observed as follows in 2019:

Holiday 2017 Date
AucklandMonday 28 January
TaranakiMonday 11 March
Hawkes’ BayFriday 25 October
WellingtonMonday 21 January
MarlboroughMonday 4 November
NelsonMonday 4 February
CanterburyFriday 15 November
Canterbury (South)Monday 23 September
WestlandMonday 2 December
OtagoMonday 25 March
SouthlandTuesday 23 April
Chatham IslandsMonday 2 December

The Anniversary Day of the Province in which an employee works are observed as follows in 2020:

Holiday 2020 Date
AucklandMonday 27 January
TaranakiMonday 9 March
Hawkes’ BayFriday 23 October
WellingtonMonday 20 January
MarlboroughMonday 2 November
NelsonMonday 3 February
CanterburyFriday 13 November
Canterbury (South)Monday 28 September
WestlandMonday 30 November
OtagoMonday 23 March
SouthlandTuesday 14 April
Chatham IslandsMonday 30 November

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