​Council caught out by Holidays Act

Waipā District Council has joined a long list of organisations caught out by complexities of the 2003 Holidays Act.

An independent audit, initiated by Council, has identified problems in how the Act was applied. It means some Council staff have been underpaid, or potentially overpaid, a portion of their holiday pay.

Council cannot yet identify how many staff have been impacted, or how much they are owed. But it has confirmed not all staff will be impacted. Some former staff who worked at Council between July 2016 and early December 2022 may also be owed a portion of holiday pay.

Council has made provision for $317,000 in its Annual Report in anticipation of having to repay money and will now work through the issue “carefully and methodically”, chief executive Garry Dyet said.

“I’m disappointed but pleased we opted to be proactive and check our compliance. When you see organisations like the NZ Police, Cadbury NZ, McDonalds, other councils, STUFF and even government ministries getting caught out on the same issue…. it rings warning bells.”

The audit showed Council’s payroll practices were not at fault.

“Our focus now is on making this right and paying out what is owed as quickly as possible. But we expect that to be some months away as we work through some complex issues to get the level of detail we need.”

Council has advised the Public Service Association about the error and has also set up an email for former staff, holidaypay@waipadc.govt.nz. Former staff can contact the Council to advise contact details and be kept informed of what was happening.

“Once we know who is impacted, we’ll also be making every effort to find those any former staff ourselves.”