Get prepared for Easter and ANZAC day - Trading Hours Employee Entitlements

31 March 2023

Good Friday is kicking off the Easter and ANZAC Day public holidays for 2023 on Friday 7th April. With these holidays, there is always some confusion around the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 and how it applies to trading hours for Club Licences and employee entitlements.  

Trading Hours for Club Licence Holders

Section 47 Sale and supply on Anzac Day morning, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day restricted: on-licences does NOT relate to club licences. Holders of club licences are able trade as usual on these days.

Easter Sunday is not a public holiday for the purposes of the Holidays Act, however, there may be trading restrictions in place.  Clubs are encouraged to check whether their local council has adopted an Easter Sunday shop trading policy.

A list of councils with these policies can be view here

Section 47A Anzac trading hours for licensed RNZRSA clubs

Section 47A of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 applies to;

• premises which house an RNZRSA club; and
• the club holds a club licence for the premises.

Where clubs meet the above criteria, they are permitted to trade from 4am to 1pm on ANZAC Day without the need to apply for a special licence.

It is important to note that section 47A only relates to trading hours and does not overide section 60 of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act.  If section 47A applies to your club but you intend to sell or supply to the public (individuals who are not authorised customers or authorised visitors) you will need a special licence.

Trading Hours for Off Licence holders

For clubs who hold an off-licence you will need to ensure that no alcohol is sold on or delivered from the premises on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, or before 1pm on ANZAC Day.

If you are unsure ask, get in touch with your local licensing inspector and discuss the options available to your club.

Employee Entitlements

The public holidays with employee entitlements over Easter and ANZAC are;

• Good Friday – Friday 7 April 2023
• Easter Monday – Monday 10 April 2023
• ANZAC Day – Tuesday 25 April 2023

There is often confusion regarding Easter Sunday as trading restrictions apply. Easter Sunday is not a public holiday under the Holidays Act 2003.

As with all public holidays the first step is to determine whether the day the public holiday falls is considered otherwise a working day for the employee, i.e. does the employee normally work on a Monday?

Understanding whether the day is considered otherwise a working day or not will enable you to determine each employee’s entitlements for the day.

An employee who normally works on the day the Public Holiday falls

If the employee normally works on the day that the Public Holiday falls and they are not required to work (are given the public holiday off) then they have the day off with normal pay (relevant daily pay).

If the employee normally works on the day that the Public Holiday falls and is required to work, they are entitled to time and a half for the hours worked pay plus an alternative holiday (lieu day).

An employee who does not normally work on the day the Public Holiday falls

For an employee who does not normally work on the day the Public Holiday falls, they have their day off as normal and are not entitled to any pay or alternative holidays.

Employees who do not normally work the day the Public Holiday falls that are required to work* are entitled to paid time and a half for the hours worked but are not entitled to an alternative holiday.

*Note that in order to require an employee to work on a public holiday that would not otherwise be considered a working day a written employment agreement must be in place that specifies that the employee can be required to work on public holidays.

Alternative Holidays

The entitlement to an alternative holiday is irrespective of the time worked on the public holiday.  For example, where an employee works from 5pm on April 24 to 3am on ANZAC Day (and the day that ANZAC Day falls is otherwise a working day for that employee), that employee is entitled to a whole alternative holiday paid at the employee's relevant daily pay for the day the alternative holiday is taken.

Alternative holidays are taken on agreement between employers and employees and must be on a day that would otherwise be a working day for that employee, the employee's alternative holiday entitlement can be used at any time on the agreement of the employee and the employer so long as the day it is taken is considered an otherwise working day for the employee.

For more information on getting prepared for Easter and ANZAC day please give the team at National Office a call on 0800 4 CLUBS or visit www.employment.govt.nz