EMA 2025 Holidays Act Roadshow

The long-awaited Holidays Act reforms have arrived, with a number of further crucial employment relations legislative updates in the pipeline for employers, and the EMA has an exclusive opportunity for you and your business to get ahead of the changes. We’re hosting a roadshow to help you assess the proposed Holidays Act calculations, and understand the changing landscape and its impact on your workplace.

At this roadshow, we’ll take a deep dive into the discussion document, exploring holiday pay, sick leave, jury service, parental leave, and family violence leave. Mistakes with leave calculations have affected organisations of all sizes – from small businesses to Te Whatu Ora, Inland Revenue and even the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), which oversees employment law compliance. This is your opportunity to see whether the proposed new calculations work in real-world scenarios and ensure your voice is heard through the submission process.

We’ll cover the journey that began in 2017, when widespread non-compliance and payroll errors across various sectors were identified. We’ll outline what went wrong, why reform has been challenging, and why this phase of feedback is critical. Key EMA voices – Alan McDonald, Mauro Barsi, Paul Jarvie and Clive Thomson – will lead the roadshow. We'll also provide an overview of current and pending employment relations changes, all of which could affect your business.

The roadshow will visit Whangārei, Rotorua, Hamilton, Tauranga, and Auckland. We will provide practical guidance on the proposed payroll calculations, the rationale behind them, as well as seeking your feedback. Whether your workforce operates on standard hours or variable schedules, this session will highlight tension points and practical solutions for compliance.

No worker wants to get short-changed, and no business wants costly errors. Join us to prepare your submission, test the calculations, and help shape a Holidays Act that works for all employers and employees.

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