HR Insights | March 2024

It seems the year is flying by, with Easter fast approaching. So what does this mean for employers?

Over the Easter period, employment and shop trading regulations vary: 

• Good Friday, 29 March is a public holiday and a restricted trading day.
• Easter Sunday, 31 March is a restricted trading day, but not a public holiday.
• Easter Monday, 1 April is a public holiday.

For unworked public holidays, employees are paid at the rate of relevant daily pay (RDP) except in two specific circumstances where an employer may choose to use average daily pay (ADP).

All employees (including casuals who work a public holiday) are entitled to the greater of RDP or ADP plus half that amount again, regardless of whether it is otherwise a working day for the employee. Permanent and fixed term employees are also entitled to an alternative holiday if they work a public holiday based on it being a day they normally work. Read more here.

Important update

In a significant case law development resulting in a win for employers, the Court of Appeal has overturned a Employment Court decision in the Mount Court Airlines versus E tū  case relating to part time staff on prorated salaries.

E tū  challenged the pro rata approach to calculating the salary of part-time cabin crew employees in the Employment Court. The union argued that it breached the requirements of Minimum Wage Act 1983 by not paying part time cabin crew full fortnightly minimum wage rate, equating to 80 hours of work at the minimum hourly wage. This decision means employers who employ part-time salaried workers are not liable to pay huge arrears of wages. Read more here.

I am excited to announce that due to the popularity of our Building a Positive Work Culture Programme last year, we have organised more sessions starting in April: People and Culture Best Practice. These sessions focus on one of the key HR issues experienced by many businesses – recruitment and retention – and is likely to be very popular again, so I suggest booking your place as soon as possible! More details below. 

For specialist HR advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch: michaelp@businesscanterbury.co.nz