The Government has accepted all of the Holidays Act Taskforce’s recommended change from their report completed in October 2019.
Michael Wood said the Government established the Holidays Act Taskforce to help address challenges with the Holidays Act.
Their recommendations include:
- Entitling eligible employees to bereavement leave and family violence leave from their first day of employment.
- Giving eligible employees one day’s sick leave from their first day of employment, with an additional day given per month until the minimum entitlement is reached.
- Extending bereavement leave to include more family members, including cultural family groups and more modern family structures.
- Removing the current parental leave ‘override’ to address discrimination against parents who take time off to care for their young children. Removing this provision will mean that employees returning to work following parental leave will be paid at their full rate for annual holidays.
- Requiring payslips, so employees know what their used and remaining leave entitlements are, and how these were calculated.
“Officials have begun further detailed policy design work on these changes and will involve a range of payroll experts to make sure we get it right. I expect to introduce legislation in early 2022 and give businesses plenty of time to prepare for the changes,” Michael Wood said.