Monday-ising Waitangi and Anzac Days

The call to Monday-ise Waitangi and Anzac days “gaining momentum” as reported in the Herald seems to have been a bit of an overstatement based on subsequent coverage.

I’m interested in the validity of the arguments presented by the leader of the Labour Party, Mr Goff, and the President of the EMPU, Mr Little, as reported in the Herald article.  Essentially their argument is that as these two public holidays are on a fixed date, when they fall on a Saturday or a Sunday people don’t get the benefit of a day off and are deprived of their right to 11 public holidays per year.

Waitangi Day and Anzac Day have their own Acts of Parliament, and the particular piece of legislation that Mr Goff and Mr Little refer to – The Holidays Act 2003, while listing them as holidays, makes no mention of when the public holiday should be observed.  Section 4 of the Waitangi Day Act 1976 specifically says it should be observed on the day it falls including a Saturday or Sunday, and Section 3 the older Anzac Day Act 1966 also says it should be observed on the day it falls - and then rather quaintly refers to treating the morning of Anzac Day as if it was a Sunday (for those old enough to remember how New Zealand was on a Sunday).

There are other Acts – such as the Shop Trading Act and Sale of Liquor Act - which also refer to public holidays but have no bearing on this discussion.

The Holidays Act only applies to employees – so if you are self employed, such as a sole trader or in a partnership, or some other sort of working relationship, or a volunteer, or aren’t working, then you aren’t one of the “people” they are referring to.  But we can narrow it down even further.  If you work on a public holiday you are entitled to an alternative day, and if you normally work the day and don’t, then you get paid the day - and that’s whether or not it is on a weekend i.e. you do gain the benefit of these days if they fall on the weekend if it's one of your normal working days.  If this is the case you also aren’t one of the people Mr Little refers to when he says "It's an issue of fairness in that the Holidays Act says you are entitled to 11 statutory days off and the best you can hope for this year is nine."

In fact there are many workers who don’t get 11 public holidays as paid work holidays even in a normal year.  Section 44 of the Act lists the public holidays employees are entitled to and Section 46 says you should get a paid day off, but section 48 says that section 46 has been complied with if the day isn’t a normal working day for the employee – which is why Monday to Friday workers don’t get anything for the two days if they fall on the weekend.  Section 44 also says if two public holidays fall on the same day they should be treated as one (which is happening this year with Easter Monday and Anzac Day).  If you are a worker who doesn’t work Monday to Friday e.g. you work part time, or are full time but a rotating roster, or perhaps do three to four 12 hour shifts per week, chances are you already miss out on being paid for some public holidays per year.  

The wording of section 3 outlines the purpose of these sections of the Act.  Public Holidays are “for the observance of days of national, religious, or cultural significance”;

• if you normally work it but have the day off so you can observe this special day you are paid so don’t get penalised financially
• if you have to work it you are compensated for missing the day
• if it is already your day off then you get to observe the day and you aren’t penalised financially (since you’ve already got paid for your normal weeks work)

Annual leave is “to provide the opportunity for rest and recreation” for a fixed number of days, whereas public holidays relate to the nature of the day and whether they are paid days off is a matter of swings and roundabouts. 

The statement “the Holidays Act says you are entitled to 11 statutory days off and the best you can hope for this year is nine” is misleading – the Act doesn’t deprive you of a day off if it falls on a day which isn’t your working day, just a paid holiday, which is a different thing.  Monday-ising it actually exacerbates this issue for some workers, while benefiting others – and is simply irrelevant for many people.  The rhetoric doesn’t reflect this at all.

The old Holidays Act was a classic example of how not to Monday-ise a holiday, you could end up working the actual Christmas Day and if it was on the weekend, missing out on time off with your family and friends, and receive no additional financial benefit or day off – and that is a key point.  Mr Little suggests that "the point of observing significant days is you take time to reflect. That simply doesn't happen on a weekend."  The point of a significant day is that the DAY is significant – ask an American whether the 4^th of July is less significant on a weekend, or the French the same for Bastille Day, or a New Zealander whether they reflected more on Christmas Day last year on Monday the 27^th than on Saturday the 25^th.

The way this part of the Act operates already is consistent with its purpose.  Whether you feel that everyone should have a fixed number of public holiday ‘paid’ days a year is just a matter of opinion.  Let’s form an opinion based on good debate, not misleading statements.

 

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