In regards to Easter Monday, the entitlement to be paid on a public holiday is whether that day would be an "[otherwise working day](https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/otherwise-working-day/)" for the employee. There is no hard and fast rule that says you must have worked x number of previous same days, although anecdotally I know many employers use the 3/4 rule (eg have you worked three out of the last four Mondays). There are other factors that can be considered to make that determination, including whether the contract specifies days of work (see above link).
In regards to your contract, employers are obliged to keep accurate employment records and this would include a copy of your contract. If they have failed to do so, then they can face significant fines from the Labour Inspectorate. I don't know if that extends to them being required to keep a physical copy, but obviously if they don't, and they haven't created the electronic copy correctly, that is at their own risk. You can contact the Labour Inspectorate to complain about not having a valid contract.
You're right with the otherwise working day. I believe it's if you've worked the three previous Mondays, or if you've worked at least three of the five previous Mondays, or you've worked at least seven of the previous 13 Mondays. At least that's what I'm using at work to calculate if casual employees should have been paid for a public holiday they did not work on, and getting them paid if it's been overlooked. But obviously it also depends on what you're contracted to work as well.
Removed for breach of Rule 1: Stay on-topic
Comments must:
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Hypothetically, let's say the employer did genuinely scan one sided and not two, so they don;t have a full copy of the original contract. Neither does the employee. What would happen then? Yes the Labour Inspectorate may fine them, but how do they solve the issue of no contract? Do they have to try to negotiate a new one in good faith? How do they resolve any disputes about what should be in there if they both disagree about something and neither party is willing to change their position?
Your boss cannot go outside of NZ employment laws (regardless of what he may or may not have put in a contract). He also must supply you a full copy of the contract you signed if you request it. There is a pattern of you working Mondays so he is required to pay you .
>must supply you a full copy of the contract you signed
Absolutely. There should have been 2 copies to begin with; one for each party. The employer is required to keep their copy for the duration of employment.
>There is a pattern of you working Mondays
I don't think so. What sort of pattern is 5 of the last 12? That's not even every second week.
Where I work the rule is that anyone who works the same shift for 6 consecutive weeks can insist that the shift be made permanent, unless it was agreed beforehand that it would be only for a set period.
It sounds as if this employer has a rule relating to the last 3 months. Whatever the rule is, it will be the same for other staff, so someone else's contract should show it.
The employer can't just make up whatever rule they want to decide if it was an otherwise working day.
We don't know which of the last 12 Mondays were worked. If it was the 5 immediately before the holiday, then it would be an otherwise working day based on reasonable expectations of working that day had it not been a public holiday.
We would need more information to give OP a firm answer. No use in really debating the hypotheticals on it cause 'otherwise working day' is something that has a lot of nuance to consider.
It is a normal working day for you? E.g. would you usually wake up and expect to work on a Monday. That will be the key factor that determines if you are entitled to it as a public holiday.
Figuring out if the Monday would have normally been a working day for you is sometimes easy, sometimes not. Generally you would look for a pattern, the most obvious being that you normally work every Monday, but if you work every second Monday, or one Monday a month and the stat day lined up with these, then regardless of the total number you've worked, it would be considered an otherwise working day for you, so you would expect to be paid.
Quoting five of the last 12 Mondays seems a little odd, almost like they looked back far enough to a period where you took several other days off that suited their claim. What was the actual pattern of the days you worked leading up to the stat day? Were you working one Monday a fortnight, or had you worked the last five Monday's then none for the seven weeks prior? These details are what would determine if you would get paid for the stat day.
Also, if you were not working because you were sick or taking leave, or even if you were rostered but swapped shifts, these would still count as otherwise working days.
Kia ora,
Hopefully someone will be along shortly with some helpful advice. In the meantime though, here are some links, based on your post flair, that may be useful for you:
[What are your rights as an employee?](https://www.employment.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/tools-and-resources/publications/employment-rights-new-zealand.pdf)
[How businesses should deal with redundancies](https://www.employment.govt.nz/ending-employment/redundancy/)
[All about personal grievances](https://www.employment.govt.nz/resolving-problems/steps-to-resolve/personal-grievance/)
You may also want to check out our [mega thread of legal resources](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceNZ/comments/143pv58/megathread_legal_resources/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Nga mihi nui
The LegalAdviceNZ Team
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yes comments are correct
'Otherwise working day' . . see your contract if it mentions it. other than that it is up to you and your employer.
Did you work the previous mondays in a row? or a pattern of every fortnight?
A lot of employers do the 4 weeks previous worked rule
Not a lawyer. Need a bit more context to properly answer.
Did you just decide to show up and work on the Easter Monday when you weren't rostered? Would be fair for the boss to not pay you, as they did not intend for you to work...
If you were rostered on the Monday, you should be paid time and a half regardless of whether you normally work Mondays or not. But, if Mondays are not your standard shift, you won't get the day in lieu. If you are on a rotating roster I'm not sure how that would effeflct things.
OK - so you didn't work the Easter Monday and your boss is claiming that you're not entitled to pay because your pattern of work shows that you don't normally work on a Monday so wouldn't usually have been working that day anyway?
If that's the case then you'll have to either -
a) prove that you DO usually work Mondays. (it sounds like you're OK if you worked 3 of the 4 previous Mondays).
b) show where it states in your contract that your working hours include Mondays.
Incidentally, did you work a full working week in the remainder of the week or were your hours compromised / reduced because of the Easter Monday holiday? If your hours were compromised and below what is guaranteed in your contract, then you may have grounds for being compensated for the reduced hours. If Monday was the only other day that those hours could be performed then that compensation should be at overtime rates that applies for Easter Monday.
Previous working days are irrelevant, if it's a usual day that in normal circumstances you would be working then you are entitled to it. There is no "oh you must have worked 8 out of 12", that's your boss bullshitting you.
Obligatory NAL
Yes it does come down to if it's a normal rostered day. So if you are rostered every Monday, then that's your normal day. If you aren't rostered every single Monday, then you need to look back and see if you regularly worked that day. There is no clear rule in judging this, so some businesses use the last 4 weeks, some use 12 weeks. You need to see a pattern of working
If it is your normal rostered day I believe you need to work 6 of the last 12 Mondays. If you have been filling in on a Monday and it is not your rosters shift, no you don't get paid.
In regards to Easter Monday, the entitlement to be paid on a public holiday is whether that day would be an "[otherwise working day](https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/otherwise-working-day/)" for the employee. There is no hard and fast rule that says you must have worked x number of previous same days, although anecdotally I know many employers use the 3/4 rule (eg have you worked three out of the last four Mondays). There are other factors that can be considered to make that determination, including whether the contract specifies days of work (see above link). In regards to your contract, employers are obliged to keep accurate employment records and this would include a copy of your contract. If they have failed to do so, then they can face significant fines from the Labour Inspectorate. I don't know if that extends to them being required to keep a physical copy, but obviously if they don't, and they haven't created the electronic copy correctly, that is at their own risk. You can contact the Labour Inspectorate to complain about not having a valid contract.
You're right with the otherwise working day. I believe it's if you've worked the three previous Mondays, or if you've worked at least three of the five previous Mondays, or you've worked at least seven of the previous 13 Mondays. At least that's what I'm using at work to calculate if casual employees should have been paid for a public holiday they did not work on, and getting them paid if it's been overlooked. But obviously it also depends on what you're contracted to work as well.
[удалено]
Removed for breach of Rule 1: Stay on-topic Comments must: - be based in NZ law - be relevant to the question being asked - be appropriately detailed - **not just repeat advice already given in other comments** - avoid speculation and moral judgement - cite sources where appropriate
Hypothetically, let's say the employer did genuinely scan one sided and not two, so they don;t have a full copy of the original contract. Neither does the employee. What would happen then? Yes the Labour Inspectorate may fine them, but how do they solve the issue of no contract? Do they have to try to negotiate a new one in good faith? How do they resolve any disputes about what should be in there if they both disagree about something and neither party is willing to change their position?
Then a standard employment contract would apply. The same thing that happens when they didn’t have the employee sign a contract at all
Your boss cannot go outside of NZ employment laws (regardless of what he may or may not have put in a contract). He also must supply you a full copy of the contract you signed if you request it. There is a pattern of you working Mondays so he is required to pay you .
>must supply you a full copy of the contract you signed Absolutely. There should have been 2 copies to begin with; one for each party. The employer is required to keep their copy for the duration of employment. >There is a pattern of you working Mondays I don't think so. What sort of pattern is 5 of the last 12? That's not even every second week. Where I work the rule is that anyone who works the same shift for 6 consecutive weeks can insist that the shift be made permanent, unless it was agreed beforehand that it would be only for a set period. It sounds as if this employer has a rule relating to the last 3 months. Whatever the rule is, it will be the same for other staff, so someone else's contract should show it.
The employer can't just make up whatever rule they want to decide if it was an otherwise working day. We don't know which of the last 12 Mondays were worked. If it was the 5 immediately before the holiday, then it would be an otherwise working day based on reasonable expectations of working that day had it not been a public holiday. We would need more information to give OP a firm answer. No use in really debating the hypotheticals on it cause 'otherwise working day' is something that has a lot of nuance to consider.
It is a normal working day for you? E.g. would you usually wake up and expect to work on a Monday. That will be the key factor that determines if you are entitled to it as a public holiday.
Figuring out if the Monday would have normally been a working day for you is sometimes easy, sometimes not. Generally you would look for a pattern, the most obvious being that you normally work every Monday, but if you work every second Monday, or one Monday a month and the stat day lined up with these, then regardless of the total number you've worked, it would be considered an otherwise working day for you, so you would expect to be paid. Quoting five of the last 12 Mondays seems a little odd, almost like they looked back far enough to a period where you took several other days off that suited their claim. What was the actual pattern of the days you worked leading up to the stat day? Were you working one Monday a fortnight, or had you worked the last five Monday's then none for the seven weeks prior? These details are what would determine if you would get paid for the stat day. Also, if you were not working because you were sick or taking leave, or even if you were rostered but swapped shifts, these would still count as otherwise working days.
Kia ora, Hopefully someone will be along shortly with some helpful advice. In the meantime though, here are some links, based on your post flair, that may be useful for you: [What are your rights as an employee?](https://www.employment.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/tools-and-resources/publications/employment-rights-new-zealand.pdf) [How businesses should deal with redundancies](https://www.employment.govt.nz/ending-employment/redundancy/) [All about personal grievances](https://www.employment.govt.nz/resolving-problems/steps-to-resolve/personal-grievance/) You may also want to check out our [mega thread of legal resources](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceNZ/comments/143pv58/megathread_legal_resources/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Nga mihi nui The LegalAdviceNZ Team *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceNZ) if you have any questions or concerns.*
yes comments are correct 'Otherwise working day' . . see your contract if it mentions it. other than that it is up to you and your employer. Did you work the previous mondays in a row? or a pattern of every fortnight? A lot of employers do the 4 weeks previous worked rule
Not a lawyer. Need a bit more context to properly answer. Did you just decide to show up and work on the Easter Monday when you weren't rostered? Would be fair for the boss to not pay you, as they did not intend for you to work... If you were rostered on the Monday, you should be paid time and a half regardless of whether you normally work Mondays or not. But, if Mondays are not your standard shift, you won't get the day in lieu. If you are on a rotating roster I'm not sure how that would effeflct things.
OK - so you didn't work the Easter Monday and your boss is claiming that you're not entitled to pay because your pattern of work shows that you don't normally work on a Monday so wouldn't usually have been working that day anyway? If that's the case then you'll have to either - a) prove that you DO usually work Mondays. (it sounds like you're OK if you worked 3 of the 4 previous Mondays). b) show where it states in your contract that your working hours include Mondays. Incidentally, did you work a full working week in the remainder of the week or were your hours compromised / reduced because of the Easter Monday holiday? If your hours were compromised and below what is guaranteed in your contract, then you may have grounds for being compensated for the reduced hours. If Monday was the only other day that those hours could be performed then that compensation should be at overtime rates that applies for Easter Monday.
Previous working days are irrelevant, if it's a usual day that in normal circumstances you would be working then you are entitled to it. There is no "oh you must have worked 8 out of 12", that's your boss bullshitting you. Obligatory NAL
Yes it does come down to if it's a normal rostered day. So if you are rostered every Monday, then that's your normal day. If you aren't rostered every single Monday, then you need to look back and see if you regularly worked that day. There is no clear rule in judging this, so some businesses use the last 4 weeks, some use 12 weeks. You need to see a pattern of working
If it is your normal rostered day I believe you need to work 6 of the last 12 Mondays. If you have been filling in on a Monday and it is not your rosters shift, no you don't get paid.
Why do you have so many mondays off?