Employment periods do not all use the same kind of day. A 90-day trial period uses calendar days. A notice period uses the unit stated in the employment agreement. Public-holiday pay depends on whether the date would otherwise be a working day for the employee.
Before entering a date, check the rule and its unit, the validity of any trial provision, the employment agreement and the employee's normal work pattern. Then use those findings to set up the count.
Current-law note, 3 August 2026: this article describes the Employment Relations Act 2000 and Holidays Act 2003 as currently in force. The Employment Leave Bill has passed its second reading but is not yet law. Employment New Zealand says the proposed replacement legislation would take effect in 2028.
Match the question to the right unit
| Question | Unit to use | Information the calculator still needs |
|---|---|---|
| Trial period of up to 90 days | Calendar days | The employment start date and whether that date is day 1 |
| Notice stated in weeks | A continuous period of weeks | The trigger date and wording in the agreement |
| Notice stated in working days | Working days | The agreement's definition and any holiday exclusions |
| Personal-grievance raising period | The unit in the current legislation | The event that started the period |
| Public-holiday pay or alternative holiday | Not a shared-calendar calculation | Whether the date would otherwise be a working day for that employee |
Do not convert one unit into another. Two weeks is not ten working days, and a 90-day trial is not 90 working days.
A 90-day trial uses calendar days
Suppose employment starts on Monday 2 February 2026 and that date is day
- The 90th calendar day is Saturday 2 May 2026.
Use these settings:
- Calculation type: Deadline
- Start date: 2 February 2026
- Direction: Forward
- Counting method: Calendar days
- Period: 90 days
- Include the start date: on
- Include the end date: on
Include the start date is on because the employment start date is day 1 of the trial. Weekends and public holidays do not pause the count, so a result on Saturday is possible.
Confirm that the trial provision is valid before relying on the resulting date. Employment New Zealand says the provision must be in writing and agreed before the employee starts. Notice of dismissal under the provision must also be given within the trial period.
A notice period follows the employment agreement
Read the notice clause before choosing Calendar days or Working days. Note:
- the event that starts the notice period;
- the date of that event;
- the length and unit of the period;
- whether the first day counts; and
- any definition of working day or business day.
If the agreement says four weeks, calculate four continuous weeks. Public holidays within those weeks do not disappear from the period. If it says 20 working days, select Working days and choose any holiday calendar or summer exclusion required by the agreement.
The general working-day definition in the Legislation Act applies to legislation. It should not be treated as the definition in a private employment agreement unless the agreement adopts it. For statutory wording such as "after", "from", "within" or "before", the section 54 guide explains the boundary settings.
Public-holiday entitlement depends on the employee
The Holidays Act asks whether the holiday would otherwise be a working day for the particular employee. The answer may depend on the roster, employment agreement and established work pattern.
The calculator can show that a public holiday falls within a period and can apply the observed weekday used by a standard calendar. It cannot establish:
- whether the employee would normally have worked that date;
- whether annual leave should be deducted;
- what the employee should be paid; or
- whether an alternative holiday is due.
The mondayisation guide explains actual and observed holiday dates. The 2026 public-holidays guide lists the annual calendar.
A workplace closure is also different from a legal exclusion. Leave Additional excluded periods empty unless the agreement or governing rule excludes a particular summer period.
Sources
Sources checked on 3 August 2026:
- Employment Relations Act 2000, sections 67A and 67B, for trial periods
- Holidays Act 2003, sections 44 to 45A, for public holidays
- Employment New Zealand: trial periods, for the requirements applying to a trial provision
- Employment New Zealand: giving notice, for notice periods
- Employment New Zealand: public holiday rights for employees, for the otherwise-working-day assessment
- Employment New Zealand: Employment Leave Bill 2026, for the current-law status and proposed commencement
The 90-day result is covered by an executable calculator test.
