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March 25, 2026
 

National, ACT, and New Zealand First have passed the Employment Leave Bill, changing the legal entitlements to annual and sick leave, especially for people working part time, irregular hours or paid irregular rates.

The law means:

  • Less leave for anyone whose hours vary from week to week
  • Pay cuts for more than 200,000 people – anyone who gets paid a higher rate when they work overtime
  • Less leave for anyone who’s badly injured
  • Less leave for anyone working shorter shifts on public holidays

If this law doesn’t hurt you, it will hurt someone you love, or someone in your community who works tirelessly to keep New Zealand going.

That’s why we must change the Government this November. We need to undo the damage the Government has done to working people, and prevent even more harm.

‍Read the PSA's submission on the bill

We can negotiate better terms for leave in collective agreements

If this bill become law, it will set the legal minimum provisions for leave. We can still negotiate better terms for leave in collective agreements.

What the bill changes

The table below summarises key changes in the Employment Leave Bill.

HTML Table Generator
Current law Proposed law What this change means
Everyone is guaranteed at least four weeks annual leave and ten days sick leave a year. You earn annual and sick leave for “standard” hours you’re required to work under your employment agreement.

 

You will not earn leave for additional hours worked, instead you get a 12.5% “leave compensation payment”.		 People who regularly work over their “standard hours” will get less leave.

 

E.g. If you work 32 standard hours and 8 extra hours a week, you would get 16 hours less sick leave a year than you would under the current law.
Leave pay is calculated so you’re paid at least as much on leave as you are when you’re working. You will be paid a base rate plus any fixed allowances that you get every pay. Pay cuts for anyone who gets overtime, allowances you don’t get every pay, extra pay for working anti-social hours, commissions, or bonuses.
ACC compensation does not affect your annual or sick leave. You would not earn annual or sick leave while you’re on ACC compensation. Anyone who’s badly injured ends up with less leave.
You get a day in lieu if you work at all on a public holiday. You would get an hour in lieu for every hour you work on a public holiday. If you work a shorter shift on a public holiday than you normally do, you will no longer get a full day off to compensate.

Explainers

Download posters and flyers explaining the changes in the Bill.

General

A5x2 flyer

A4 posters

A3 table poster

Less leave for anyone whose hours vary from week to week

A5x2 flyer

A4 poster

Pay cuts for anyone who’s paid a higher rate when they work overtime

A5x2 flyer

A4 poster

Less leave for anyone working shorter shifts on public holidays

A5x2 flyer

A4 poster

Less leave for anyone who’s badly injured

A5x2 flyer

A4 poster

Media releases

Read the PSA's media releases on the Employment Leave Bill:

Christopher Luxon wants to take a holiday: yours (28 July)

More than 200,000 people face a pay cut under the Government’s new leave law, bill to become defining election issue (23 July)

New poll shows public know Holidays Act changes favour employers over workers (7 June)

National MP’s tone-deaf attack on workers exposes who this Govt. really serves (29 April)

PSA calls on MPs to sign pledge to stop cuts to holidays and pay for thousands of workers (12 March)

Women, casual, & part-time workers worse off with Holidays Act overhaul (23 September 2025)

We're asking MPs to pledge their opposition to this bill

We asked MPs to sign a pledge that they will not make the lives of working people worse by supporting this bill.

Here's the full text of the pledge:

“I support the right of all workers to have time off work. All workers need annual leave, sick leave, bereavement leave and family violence leave. I will not support any bill that reduces workers’ entitlements to leave.”

Has your local MP signed the pledge?

Check the tables below to find electorate and list MPs and see whether they've pledges to protect workers' right to leave.

North Island General Electorates

South Island General Electorates

Māori Electorates

List MPs

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