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Purchased Leave

Empower your people with flexible leave options 

Smartly’s purchased leave feature gives New Zealand businesses more flexibility to support their teams with extra leave, from purchased leave to special days like birthdays, wellbeing leave, or cultural holidays. 

Set it up once in Smartly payroll, and you can easily create, track, and report on custom leave types. 

Sign up
Labour costing

Feature breakdown

Feature
How It Works
Create custom leave types
Set up additional leave categories to suit your workplace — whether that’s wellbeing days, birthday leave, cultural leave, volunteering days, or company-specific benefits. You control the leave name, entitlement rules, and how it appears in payroll, so it fits seamlessly alongside standard leave types.
Offer purchased leave
Enable employees to apply for extra leave beyond their standard entitlements. Once approved, the total value of the leave can be spread across multiple future pay periods, making it more manageable for employees while keeping payroll calculations accurate.
Link repayments directly to payroll deductions
Repayments are automatically processed through payroll as scheduled deductions. You can choose whether deductions are applied pre-tax or post-tax, ensuring the setup aligns with your policy and making administration simple each pay cycle.
Keep accurate records
Leave balances, accruals, purchased leave taken, and repayment amounts are clearly recorded within Smartly. Employees can see repayments on their payslips, and employers can track everything through reporting for full visibility.

 

Employers and employees agree on the terms for buying extra leave.

  • Purchased leave sits outside the Holidays Act 2003.

  • The purchase rate must be agreed in writing.

  • Pay must never drop below the minimum wage in any pay period.

  • Purchased leave is in addition to the statutory four weeks of annual leave.

It's best practice to have a written policy that explains who can purchase leave, how repayments are made, and what happens if employment ends early.

Download our free policy template and agreement template to help you set clear guidelines.

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If you’re unsure how to structure purchased or discretionary leave, speak with your HR advisor, employment lawyer, or tax specialist.

Need help setting it up in Smartly?

See our step-by-step guide

Or watch our walkthrough video

Helpdesk support: helpdesk@smartly.co.nz

Phone number: 0800 10 10 38

Disclaimer

Smartly provides payroll functionality and general information to help New Zealand employers manage leave, deductions, and repayments. We do not provide legal, tax, or employment advice. Each business is responsible for ensuring its employment agreements, deductions, and leave policies comply with New Zealand law.

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