New bill's passing a 'major step towards a leave system that is fairer, simpler and easier'

New Zealand's Employment Leave Bill has passed its third and final reading in Parliament, in a development businesses hailed as the most significant improvement in the country's leave system.

The Employment Leave Bill replaces the current Holidays' Act 2003, which has faced criticism for being "complex" and "confusing" among employers.

"This Bill delivers on the government's priority to replace the broken Holidays Act with a leave system which is simple and straightforward, so that employers have confidence in their calculations, and employees have confidence they are being paid correctly – a benefit to workers and businesses alike," said Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden.

Among the major reforms in the legislation include the shift to a standard hours-based calculation for annual leave entitlements. Other aspects of the law include:

• Annual, sick, bereavement and family violence leave available from the first day of work
• Use of a single hourly rate for paying leave, across all types of leave
• A new 12.5% Leave Compensation Payment for additional and casual hours, instead of accruing annual leave and sick leave for those hours
• Mandatory pay statements that itemise pay and leave in a way that's transparent and easy to understand
• Greater flexibility to cash up annual leave, with workers able to cash up 25% of their total annual leave balance each year
• A new...

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