Mondayisation and your working days
Mondayisation 2026 to 2028: which New Zealand public holidays move
| Year | Public holiday | Falls on | Moves to | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Anzac Day | Section 45A: Saturday or Sunday to the following Monday | ||
| 2026 | Boxing Day | Section 45: Saturday to the following Monday, Sunday to the following Tuesday | ||
| 2027 | Day after New Year’s Day | Section 45: Saturday to the following Monday, Sunday to the following Tuesday | ||
| 2027 | Waitangi Day | Section 45A: Saturday or Sunday to the following Monday | ||
| 2027 | Anzac Day | Section 45A: Saturday or Sunday to the following Monday | ||
| 2027 | Christmas Day | Section 45: Saturday to the following Monday, Sunday to the following Tuesday | ||
| 2027 | Boxing Day | Section 45: Saturday to the following Monday, Sunday to the following Tuesday | ||
| 2028 | New Year’s Day | Section 45: Saturday to the following Monday, Sunday to the following Tuesday | ||
| 2028 | Day after New Year’s Day | Section 45: Saturday to the following Monday, Sunday to the following Tuesday | ||
| 2028 | Waitangi Day | Section 45A: Saturday or Sunday to the following Monday |
Mondayisation applies to Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, the day after New Year’s Day, Waitangi Day and Anzac Day when they fall on a weekend. The employee’s working pattern decides which date applies: someone who would otherwise work the weekend day observes the holiday then. For other employees, the holiday transfers. For the Christmas and New Year holidays, a Saturday observance transfers to Monday and a Sunday observance to Tuesday. Waitangi Day and Anzac Day transfer to Monday from either weekend day. This page lists each weekend holiday in the published years alongside its transferred date, making the alternatives visible without treating them as separate holidays.
Which holiday date applies to you?
Both dates are shown for a weekend holiday that transfers. Employees who would otherwise work that Saturday or Sunday observe the actual day; other employees use the applicable Monday or Tuesday. Employment New Zealand explains how pay works for a public holiday on a weekend; its pages are listed under the sources.
What Employment New Zealand says
In the words of Employment New Zealand:
Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and 2 January holiday
These public holidays are observed on the actual day when they fall on a weekday. When they fall on a Saturday/Sunday:
If the employee would have worked on the Saturday/Sunday, the public holiday is observed on the Saturday/Sunday.
If the employee would not have worked on the Saturday/Sunday, the public holiday is observed on the following Monday (or in some cases Tuesday).
Waitangi Day and Anzac Day
The public holidays for ANZAC Day and Waitangi Day are “Mondayised” (moved to the following Monday) if they fall on a Saturday/Sunday and the employee would not have worked on that Saturday/Sunday.
If the employee would not have worked on the Saturday or Sunday, the public holiday moves to another day. This is because the weekend day is not an otherwise working day for them.
This is called ‘mondayisation’. It means the public holiday applies on Monday (or sometimes Tuesday), not on the weekend.
Holidays Act 2003, sections 45 and 45A
In the words of the Holidays Act 2003 (legislation.govt.nz):
Transfer of public holidays over Christmas and New Year
For the purposes of this subpart, if any of the public holidays listed in section 44(1)(a) to (d)—
falls on a Saturday and the day would not otherwise be a working day for the employee, the public holiday must be treated as falling on the following Monday:
falls on a Sunday and the day would not otherwise be a working day for the employee, the public holiday must be treated as falling on the following Tuesday.
Transfer of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day public holidays
falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, and the day would not otherwise be a working day for the employee, the public holiday must be treated as falling on the following Monday.
Common questions
- Does Mondayisation give everyone a long weekend?
- No. Whether a person would have worked on the weekend day determines which observance applies. Someone who would otherwise work on the actual weekend holiday takes that observance, so the transferred day does not automatically give them another holiday.
- Which public holidays never need Mondayisation?
- Good Friday, Easter Monday, King’s Birthday, Matariki and Labour Day already fall on weekdays. Their published dates appear in the holiday tables without a weekend transfer.
- Why does a holiday sometimes transfer to Tuesday?
- For employees entitled to the transferred observance, the Christmas and New Year holidays move to Tuesday when their actual date falls on Sunday. The table pairs each affected holiday with its applicable transferred date.
Official sources
- Employment New Zealand: Public holidays and anniversary dates (read )
- Holidays Act 2003 (2003 No 129), sections 44, 45 and 45A, "Version as at 20 December 2023" (New Zealand Legislation) (read )
- Ministry of Education: School terms and holidays dates (read )
- Employment New Zealand: When a public holiday falls on a weekend (read )
- Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022 (2022 No 14), section 6 and Schedule 1 (New Zealand Legislation) (read )
Every date here was compared with the official pages on . Should anything differ, the official page is right. How dates are checked.