Annual leave entitlement in New Zealand: how many weeks, how it accrues and the rules
Every New Zealand employee becomes entitled to a minimum of 4 weeks of paid annual holidays after 12 months of continuous employment with the same employer, under section 16 of the Holidays Act 2003 (New Zealand Legislation, retrieved 9 September 2026). The entitlement lands as a single lump sum on the anniversary date, not accrued gradually week by week, and it does not expire until it is taken, cashed up or paid out.
How the 4-week entitlement actually works
Annual holidays under the Holidays Act 2003 are granted, not accumulated. After each full 12 months of continuous employment, an employee becomes entitled to 4 weeks as paid time off, and that block sits available until used (Employment New Zealand, Annual holidays, retrieved 9 September 2026). The table below sets out what that means for different work patterns.
| Situation | What the Act gives you | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time or part-time, same employer, 12+ months | 4 weeks paid annual holidays on each anniversary | Holidays Act 2003, s16 |
| Under 12 months' employment | No entitlement has arisen yet; final pay includes 8% of gross earnings if employment ends first | Holidays Act 2003, s16, s24 |
| Fixed-term agreement under 12 months, or genuinely irregular work | Can agree to 8% "pay-as-you-go" instead of 4 weeks, paid with each pay | Holidays Act 2003, s28 |
| Employer offers more than the legal minimum | Allowed; the employment agreement should say so | Employment New Zealand |
(Holidays Act 2003, ss16, 24 and 28; Employment New Zealand, retrieved 9 September 2026.)
How many days that 4 weeks actually is
A "week" of annual holidays reflects your normal working pattern, not a fixed number of calendar days. Employment New Zealand (retrieved 9 September 2026) confirms an employee working 5 days a week gets 20 days of annual holidays (5 x 4), while someone working 3 days a week gets 12 days (3 x 4), because both have 4 weeks of leave under the Act. The table below shows the pattern for common work weeks.
| Days worked each week | Annual holidays in days a year | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 20 | Employment New Zealand |
| 4 | 16 | Employment New Zealand |
| 3 | 12 | Employment New Zealand |
| Variable, no fixed pattern | Agreed with your employer, either in days or hours | Holidays Act 2003, s17 |
(Employment New Zealand, Taking annual holidays, retrieved 9 September 2026.)
How many weeks of annual leave do I get in NZ?
You get a minimum of 4 weeks of paid annual holidays a year once you have worked continuously for the same employer for 12 months, under section 16 of the Holidays Act 2003 (New Zealand Legislation, retrieved 9 September 2026). An employer can offer more than 4 weeks, but never less, and the extra weeks should be written into your employment agreement.
Does annual leave start accruing from day one of employment?
No, not under the current Holidays Act. The 4-week entitlement arises only once you complete a full 12 months of continuous employment; before that point you have not yet accrued any statutory annual leave, though your employer can let you take leave in advance by agreement (Employment New Zealand, Managing annual holidays, retrieved 9 September 2026). This changes under the Employment Leave Act 2026: see what's changing in NZ employment leave law for the hours-based accrual model due from 6 August 2028.
Can my employer refuse my annual leave request?
An employer must be reasonable when considering a request to take annual holidays and cannot decline without good reason, though they can require you to take leave in certain circumstances, such as a closedown, or if you are carrying an excessive, unused balance and have been asked in writing to take it (Employment New Zealand, Taking annual holidays, retrieved 9 September 2026).
What happens to unused annual leave when I resign?
Any annual holidays you have not taken are paid out in your final pay. If you have already reached an anniversary and hold an unused 4-week entitlement, it is paid at your ordinary weekly pay or average weekly earnings, whichever is higher; if you resign before your next anniversary, the portion since your last anniversary is paid at 8% of the gross earnings from that period, under sections 23 to 25 of the Holidays Act 2003 (New Zealand Legislation, retrieved 9 September 2026). If the resignation follows a redundancy rather than a personal decision to leave, our redundancy pay in NZ guide covers the separate entitlement that sits alongside this payout.
Is annual leave paid at your normal pay or your average pay?
Neither exclusively: you are paid whichever is higher of your ordinary weekly pay (OWP) or your average weekly earnings (AWE) for the 12 months before the leave is taken, under section 21 of the Holidays Act 2003 (New Zealand Legislation, retrieved 9 September 2026). Our annual leave calculator explainer works through both formulas with the exact rules for what counts.
Can I take annual leave before I've accrued it?
Yes, but only if your employer agrees. Section 20 of the Holidays Act 2003 allows an employer to let an employee take annual holidays in advance of the 12-month entitlement date, and if employment ends before that advance leave has actually been earned, the value can be deducted from final pay if the employment agreement allows it (New Zealand Legislation, Holidays Act 2003, s20, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Does annual leave carry over if I don't use it?
Yes. Unlike sick leave, which caps at 20 days, annual holidays have no maximum carry-over limit under the Holidays Act 2003. The entitlement simply remains available until you take it, cash it up, or your employment ends, when it is paid out in full (Employment New Zealand, Managing annual holidays, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Do part-time and casual employees get annual leave?
Part-time employees get the full 4-week entitlement once they reach 12 months' continuous employment, calculated against their own working week, exactly the same as a full-time employee (Employment New Zealand, Taking annual holidays, retrieved 9 September 2026). Genuinely casual or irregular workers, where it is impossible in practice to provide 4 weeks off in the normal way, may instead agree to 8% pay-as-you-go holiday pay under section 28 of the Holidays Act 2003.
How is my "working week" for annual leave defined if my hours change?
If you work the same days and hours every week, a week is simply that pattern. If your hours are consistent but vary in shape, you and your employer agree how to define a week, in either days or hours. If your work pattern is genuinely unpredictable, you agree on a fair and reasonable method, which might be your agreed contracted hours or your recent work pattern (Employment New Zealand, Taking annual holidays, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Can my employer make me take annual leave during a closedown?
Yes. An employer running an annual closedown, such as over Christmas, can require employees to take annual holidays during that period even if they have not yet accrued a full entitlement, under sections 32 to 35 of the Holidays Act 2003 (New Zealand Legislation, retrieved 9 September 2026). An employee without enough accrued leave to cover the closedown may go into a negative balance, to be worked off against future entitlement, or receive advance leave if the employer agrees.
What happens to my annual leave if I get sick or bereaved during scheduled annual holidays?
If you fall sick, are injured, bereaved, or affected by family violence during scheduled annual holidays and would otherwise qualify for that type of leave, your employer must allow you to use sick leave, bereavement leave or family violence leave for those days instead, and the annual holidays are restored for use another time, under sections 36 to 39 of the Holidays Act 2003 (New Zealand Legislation, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Do public holidays that fall during my annual leave count as annual leave days?
No. If a public holiday falls within a period of scheduled annual holidays and it would otherwise have been a working day for you, that day is treated as a public holiday, not annual leave, and your annual holiday entitlement is extended by one day, under section 40 of the Holidays Act 2003 (New Zealand Legislation, retrieved 9 September 2026). See our public holiday pay guide for how those days are paid.
Does annual leave keep building up while I'm on ACC, sick leave or parental leave?
Annual holidays do not accrue during the first week of unpaid leave in any 12-month period, but time on sick leave, bereavement leave, family violence leave and most other paid leave still counts toward continuous employment for the annual holidays entitlement. Time spent on ACC weekly compensation instead of your usual pay is treated separately; our off-work-sick hub and ACC versus the sickness benefit guide cover how ACC periods interact with your other leave.
Where annual leave fits with the rest of your leave
Annual holidays are one part of New Zealand's minimum leave framework, and they interact with sick leave, bereavement leave and public holidays in ways that catch people out. The table below is the quick map.
| Leave type | Minimum entitlement | Qualifying period | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual holidays | 4 weeks a year | 12 months' continuous employment | This page |
| Sick leave | 10 days a year, up to a 20-day cap | 6 months | Sick leave entitlement in NZ |
| Bereavement leave | 3 days (close family) or 1 day (other) | 6 months | Bereavement leave in NZ |
| Public holidays | Up to 12 paid days a year | From day one, if it's an otherwise working day | Public holiday pay in NZ |
(Holidays Act 2003; see each linked guide's own References section for full citations.)
What's changing
The Employment Leave Act 2026 has passed into law and will replace the Holidays Act 2003 from 6 August 2028, moving annual leave from a 12-month lump sum to hourly accrual from day one of employment, at a minimum rate of 0.0769 hours of leave per hour worked (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Key changes to the employment leave system, retrieved 9 September 2026). Nothing changes for the entitlement described on this page until then. Full detail, including what happens to sick leave and public holidays, is on our employment leave law changes page.
If your circumstances are changing
Annual leave rarely comes up on its own. If you are leaving a job, our guides to notice periods in NZ, redundancy pay in NZ and the first 30 days after redundancy cover what else changes alongside your leave payout, and Jobseeker Support is the main income support if you are out of work. If illness is the reason leave is in question, how long you can be off work sick, telling your employer you are sick and returning to work after illness sit alongside this cluster.
Working out your own leave balance, cashing up part of it, or checking what happens on resignation are the next practical questions most people have; our guides to how annual leave pay is calculated and cashing out annual leave cover those in full, and the leave entitlements hub indexes every guide in this cluster, including long service leave.
If a change of job or income affects the cover you carry, comparing income protection is worth doing alongside a leave review, since it is the cover that replaces income when annual leave and sick leave both run out. Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name. Start a free comparison if you would like a licensed adviser to look at your own cover.
Adviser's view
QuoteHub's read is that the entitlement most people get wrong is timing: annual leave is not banked week by week as you work it, it lands in a single 4-week block on your anniversary date, which is why someone who resigns at month 11 has zero days accrued under this system and gets paid 8% of their gross earnings instead.
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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Annual Leave Entitlement NZ 2026: Weeks and Rules. www.quotehub.co.nz/guides/leave-entitlements/annual-leave-entitlement-nz. Updated 2026-09-09.
References
- Holidays Act 2003, section 16 (Entitlement to annual holidays)
- Holidays Act 2003, section 17 (How entitlement may be met)
- Holidays Act 2003, section 20 (Advance leave)
- Holidays Act 2003, section 21 (Calculation of annual holiday pay)
- Holidays Act 2003, sections 23 to 25 (Pay on employment ending)
- Holidays Act 2003, sections 32 to 35 (Closedown periods)
- Holidays Act 2003, sections 36 to 39 (Sickness, bereavement or family violence during leave)
- Holidays Act 2003, section 40 (Relationship with public holidays)
- Employment New Zealand: Annual holidays
- Employment New Zealand: Taking annual holidays
- Employment New Zealand: Managing annual holidays
- Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment: Key changes to the employment leave system (PDF)
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