Payroll - A look at Alternative Leave

A topic I often get asked about, is the entitlement of an alternative leave day when the employee has worked on a public holiday.

It's timely to discuss this subject with Easter just around the corner.

An employee is entitled by statute to receive an alternative leave day, IF the public holiday was worked, and the day in question was their ordinary working day.

If the employee worked, and it was not their ordinary working day, then there is no obligation to award an alternative leave day.

An alternative leave day, is simply a day in when worked and a day out when taken. It is NOT hours worked and hours taken as many employers are still recording.

The Holidays Act 2003 is very clear on the intention to award an employee an alternative leave day.

What does this mean then, if your employee only works a portion of their standard profiled hours on the day in question? The employee will still get a day awarded to them to take at another mutually agreeable date.

Alternative leave is not lieu time and vice versa goes. Think of lieu time as the same thing as glide time, it is the time that an employee accumulates and later takes off, instead of receiving overtime.

Alternative leave, is the day an employee is awarded in recognition for working on a public holiday.

The Holidays Act 2003 sets out the minimum obligations and whilst an employer can not contract out of or below these obligations, they can provide enhanced benefits to their staff.

It is vital that you scrutinize the wording of the employees employment agreement, as often agreements can allow for greater entitlements.

Until Easter rolls around, there is not too much you can do to prepare, it definitely helps to determine what an ordinary working day is, when an employer has in place;

1. A well written employment agreement which outlines the expectation of days and hours worked between the employer and employee.

2. Clear rosters in place to determine if the day in question was going to be worked or a rostered day off for those employees with a variable employment nature.

Of course the other thing to do is to stock up on all those chocolate goodies.