Changes to sick leave entitlements: what you need to know.

1. From 24 July 2021, minimum sick leave entitlements increased from 5 to 10 days. 
2. The changes will roll out gradually, with employees gaining the extra five days when they reach their next entitlement day. This will either be after 6 months of employment or on their sick leave anniversary (12 months after they were last entitled to sick leave). 
3. If your business already gives your employees 10 or more sick days per year, we recommend checking your sick leave policies and employee agreements to see if any changes need to be made. It’s always a good idea to seek some advice if you’re not sure about anything, we would suggest contacting MBIE in the first instance. 
4. The maximum amount of unused sick leave that an employee is entitled to remains at 20 days in any year, under the Act.

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If you’re a Smartly customer, we’ll sort everything for you in the background. Regardless of whether you’ve got new employees starting, or existing employees nearing their employment anniversary, the software will automatically update, so your team are receiving their correct entitlements.

In October last year as part of their election campaign, the Labour Party announced they would double minimum sick leave entitlements if re-elected. The issue with the current minimum entitlements came to light after the COVID-19 pandemic, where Kiwis were urged to stay home if they weren’t feeling well. Increasing employee’s sick leave entitlements will mean more people have the capacity to stay home if they are sick and provide more support and flexibility for working parents. 

The Government has started working to implement the recommendations of the Holidays Act Taskforce. One of the recommendations includes giving employees access to some of their sick leave from day one of employment, instead of waiting till they’ve worked for the business for six months. The Government expects to introduce this legislation in early 2022.

Payroll legislation, the Holidays Act, sick leave entitlements and more, it’s a lot to get your head around. Our automated and simple to use payroll software can sort this all for you. Sign up today simply by getting in touch with one of our experts!