Employee Break Entitlements: The Ultimate Guide

When you’re running a business, there can often be so many moving parts that some more laborious and time-intensive tasks can fall to the side.

And, unless you’re an employment lawyer, wading through the lengthy and verbose language that defines employee and break entitlements in New Zealand may not be high on your list of priorities.

Unfortunately, failing to be across what your employees are entitled to can put you in breach of several employment laws, such as the Employee Relations Act 2000, the Holidays Act 2033, and the Minimum Wage Act 1983. 

That’s why we’ve put together a run-down of the various entitlements all workers must be provided, as well as what might happen to a company or employer if they neglect to abide by them.

Every full-time, part-time, fixed-term, and casual employee is entitled to benefits from employment. They can’t be taken away for any reason, even if your employees are working under a simple verbal agreement.

Entitlements differ depending on the particular collective or individual agreement your company operates under and relevant employment legislation such as the Holidays Act and Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act.

Here are some examples of different types of leave benefits  you must provide to your employees. 

Annual Leave 

Every employee is entitled to four weeks of paid annual leave per year, regardless of how long they’ve been working with you, and whether they’re full-time or part-time.

Sick Leave

All workers get 10 days of paid sick leave per year, after the first six months of employment. These days can be carried over to a maximum of 20 days. Workers can also use their sick leave to take care of a family member.

Bereavement Leave 

Employees are entitled to three days of bereavement leave every one year period. These three days apply only to immediate family members or members of an employee’s household. 

Employees can take one day of bereavement for any death outside of their immediate family, pending that their employer approves the day. Bereavement leave does not accrue based on ordinary working hours.

Public Holidays

All employees in New Zealand are entitled to 11 paid holidays. If your employees are working on a public holiday, they must earn at least time and a half on top of their normal wages. 

Employees may also be able to take public holidays on mutually agreed dates. This is referred to as ‘a day in lieu’.

Parental Leave 

New Zealand is incredibly supportive of new parents! Under the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987, there are five varieties of parental leave:

• Primary Carer Leave
• Partner’s Leave
• Special Leave
• Negotiated Leave
• Extended Leave

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For employees, this is a great time to take a quick breather from their work responsibilities. 

For employers, it’s important to know what you need to provide in line with rest and meal breaks as they are quite different. The key difference between them is that rest breaks are paid, while meal breaks are mostly unpaid.

Rest Breaks

Each of your employees, regardless of whether they’re full-time, part-time or casual, have the right to paid rest breaks throughout their work period. 

The timing and length of rest breaks can vary based on the workday of each individual employee. However, according to the Employment Relations Act 2000, there are certain minimum rest breaks that apply to all employees. 

For example, your employees will be entitled to one 10 minute paid rest break for every four consecutive hours they work. If their workday is longer than six hours, they’re entitled to a 30 minute rest break.

Meal Breaks

Like rest breaks, but unpaid, meal breaks occur at different times throughout an employee’s work period. Typical meal break entitlements include a 30 minute unpaid meal break for every four hours of continuous work.

Meal breaks must be long enough to enable employees to have a meal uninterrupted, and employers are expected to provide suitable facilities for them to do so.

Further, employees must be allowed to leave the workplace while on meal breaks, unless otherwise specifically agreed.

Many employers can also opt to provide their employees with longer meal breaks if they choose.

However, workers in essential services, such as hospital, ambulance, electricity, sewage and water, may have different entitlements for their rest and meal breaks. While employee breaks can still be taken throughout his or her work period, they may differ in timing, length, and frequency.

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Many employers choose to offer extended entitlements to keep their workers happy and maintain a low employee turnover rate. 

However, regardless of whether you’ve got a pre-agreed allowance of rest and meal breaks within your employment contracts, you’re still required to allow the minimum entitlement for rest and meal breaks, as well as other employee entitlements.

Failure to comply with these minimum entitlements is grounds for employee grievances and serious penalties. Issues can be filed with the Employment Relations Authority, and you may be required to pay a financial penalty.

There are some common mistakes employers often make when dealing with employee entitlements that can be easily avoided. 

For example, the Employment Relations Act 2000 mandates that all workers receive a written copy of their agreed terms of employment.

Employers must also give ample time to their potential employees to seek advice on the terms of their offered contract. Failure to comply with these simple rules can result in substantial penalties.

Employers often mistake the classification of employees as ‘casual’, which is a working relationship between an employer and a worker who assists on an “as and when required” basis. 

Their work is usually only valid for a short period of time, and they aren’t expected to provide continuous, ongoing labour. However, if the employee develops a consistent pattern of work, they may potentially be considered full-time or part-time.

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