Can my employer make me work on the weekend?
My employer has said that I have to work the upcoming public holiday. I don’t want to. Is that fair?
What am I entitled to if I work on a public holiday?
My employer has asked me to ‘swap’ my public holiday with another date. What does that mean?
I agreed to transfer my public holiday to a set date, but the new date is going to be during the week I’m on leave. Will I lose one day’s annual leave?
I have a major deadline in my work and want to work on a public holiday to meet it, but my employer says my workplace has a policy that public holidays can’t be exchanged. What does this mean?
Can my employer make me work on the weekend?
That depends on your employment agreement. If your employment agreement says that you may be required to work outside your normal hours of work from time to time, then you could be required to work on the weekend. A normal working week is no more than 40 hours (before overtime) unless your agreement says so. Where possible, you should try to agree with your employer that your normal hours of work are worked over no more than five days. So you should get two days off each week, though these may not necessarily be Saturday and Sunday. Make sure you speak to your boss if you’re not happy about the hours or days you are working.
My employer has said that I have to work the upcoming public holiday. I don’t want to. Is that fair?
By law, you are entitled to take public holidays off unless it says otherwise in your employment agreement. If it says you may have to work public holidays in your employment agreement then this means that you have agreed to do so. If you have never agreed to work a public holiday then your boss can’t make you. For more information you can talk to the Department of Labour on 0800 20 90 20.
What am I entitled to if I work on a public holiday?
If you work on a public holiday, your employer must pay you one and a half times your pay for each hour you work, even if you are a salaried employee. If the day that was the public holiday would usually have been a working day for you, you are also entitled to an alternative day off at a later date. This alternative day must be a whole day, even if you only worked on part of the public holiday.
You are also able to 'swap' the day you observe a public holiday, with your employer's agreement. (See next question.)
My employer has asked me to ‘swap’ my public holiday with another date. What does that mean?
Under a new law to be introduced on 1 April 2011, employees and employers can agree to ‘transfer’ one or more public holidays to another agreed day. This means the new day becomes the public holiday for you. The law around working on public holidays now applies to the day you’ve swapped to, and no longer to the public holiday itself.
The ‘replacement’ day needs to be in the same calendar year, and on what would otherwise be a working day for you.
If you and your employer do agree that you’ll transfer a public holiday to another date, it needs to be written in an agreement between you. This agreement needs to say exactly which public holiday is being transferred (so, if you’re working on Labour Day and taking your Labour Day holiday on another date, the agreement between you needs to say that you are exchanging Labour Day). It also needs to say what date you are now going to take the public holiday on. This has to be a date you would normally be working. Your employer can’t ask you to exchange your public holiday so they don’t have to pay you time and a half. (Even though that’s the outcome, it can’t be the reason.)
If you and your employer can’t agree what date you want to observe the public holiday, your employer is able to decide for you (providing it is a reasonable date) and give you at least fourteen days notice of the date.
I agreed to transfer my public holiday to a set date, but the new date is going to be during the week I’m on leave. Will I lose one day’s annual leave?
The day won’t be taken from your annual leave entitlement– it will be as if you’d taken leave in a week there is a public holiday.
I have a major deadline in my work and want to work on a public holiday to meet it, but my employer says my workplace has a policy that public holidays can’t be exchanged. What does this mean?
Employers can have a workplace policy that says they won’t exchange public holidays. They need to tell you when you start working for them if they have this policy– but it is also a good idea to ask.
If you were in the job before 1 April 2011, when the new law took effect, your employer should have involved you and any other employees in the developing of a policy about Public Holidays. This is part of an Employer’s requirements to act in Good Faith towards employees.