What should be in my final pay when I leave a job?

When you leave a job, for any reason, your employer must pay you everything you are owed in one final pay, on or before the normal pay day for your last pay period. That includes every hour you worked, every annual holiday you have not taken, and 8% of what you have earned since your last work anniversary. It can also include public holidays that fall after your last day, which surprises a lot of people.

The rules are the same whether you resigned, were made redundant, or were dismissed. Being dismissed for serious misconduct costs you the notice period, not your holidays.

The basics

• Notice. Your employment agreement sets the notice period. If it does not, you must give "reasonable" notice, which for most jobs is 2 to 4 weeks. If you give the proper notice, you must be paid to the end of it even if your employer sends you home early. If you give less than required, you are only paid for the days you actually worked.
• Unpaid wages and overtime for everything up to your last day, at your agreement rate.
• Entitled annual holidays (the weeks you became entitled to on your last anniversary and have not used) at the greater of your ordinary weekly pay or your average weekly earnings over the last 12 months.
• 8% of gross earnings since your last anniversary, less any holiday pay already paid in advance or on a pay-as-you-go basis. If you have been there under a year, this is your whole holiday pay.
• Public holidays that fall in the period your unused entitled holidays would have covered, if you would normally have worked that day.
• Unused alternative holidays (days in lieu) at relevant daily pay for your last day of work.
• Anything else in your agreement, such as a bonus that has already vested, pay in lieu of notice if agreed, or a redundancy payment if your agreement provides one. There is no statutory redundancy pay in New Zealand.
• Not included unless your agreement says so: unused sick leave or bereavement leave.
• Timing. On or before the pay day for your final pay period. Not "when payroll gets to it".

How it is worked out

Priya earns $30 an hour, 40 hours a week ($1,200 gross), Monday to Friday. She started on 1 March 2024, so her work anniversary is 1 March. She resigns with two weeks' notice and her last day is Friday 23 October 2026. She has 6 days (1.2 weeks) of entitled annual holidays left from her 1 March 2026 anniversary. Since 1 March 2026 she has earned $40,800 gross, including her final week.

PAYE, ACC levy, KiwiSaver and any student loan deduction come off that, as they would from any pay. Holiday pay in a final pay is often taxed as an extra pay, so the PAYE can look high. That is normal and squares up at year end.

If Priya had left in the first week of March, straight after her anniversary, the 8% would be tiny and the entitled weeks would be large. If she had left in late February, the 8% would cover almost a full year and the entitled weeks would be whatever she had not used. Either way the total is similar; the law just splits it differently.

The catch

• Public holidays only attach to entitled holidays. The 8% portion does not extend your employment, so if you have been there under a year, no public holiday in the leave period is payable.
• Deductions need your written consent unless they are required by law (PAYE, student loan, child support) or ordered by a court. A general "we may deduct" clause is not enough; your employer must still consult you about the specific amount first.
• Unworked notice. If you walk out without giving notice, your employer cannot dock your final pay for it unless you agreed in writing, you had a chance to get advice before signing, and the deduction matches their actual loss. Even then, holiday pay is not theirs to keep.
• Overpayments. A one-off payroll error cannot be clawed back from your final pay without your written consent. Your employer's remedy is to ask, then go to mediation.
• Uniforms, tools, training. Employers cannot deduct the cost of uniforms or equipment they supplied. Training-cost clawbacks only work if they were agreed in writing in advance and are reasonable.
• Casual workers paid 8% on each pay have usually already received their holiday pay. Check your payslips. If the 8% was not shown separately, it may not have been paid at all.
• "Garden leave" keeps you employed and paid without working, and does not use up your annual holidays. Pay in lieu of notice ends employment on the day notice is given.
• Change coming. The Employment Leave Act 2026 replaces the Holidays Act on 6 August 2028. Until then every rule above applies as written.

What to do if it is wrong

1. Ask your employer, in writing, for a breakdown of your final pay showing wages, entitled holidays, 8%, public holidays and deductions. They must give you this.
2. Compare it with the steps above and your own payslips. Note each line you think is short.
3. Reply in writing with your calculation and ask for the difference by a set date. Keep copies.
4. If it is late or short and talking does not fix it, call Employment New Zealand on 0800 20 90 20. The Labour Inspectorate enforces minimum entitlements including holiday pay and can take action against the employer without you having to.
5. You can also request free mediation through Employment New Zealand. Most pay disputes settle there.
6. If mediation fails, apply to the Employment Relations Authority. It can order payment of wages and holiday pay owed, and can order the employer to contribute to your costs.
7. If your treatment on the way out was unfair (an unjustified dismissal, for example), that is a personal grievance and must be raised with the employer within 90 days of the end of your employment. Unpaid wages claims have a longer window, but do not wait.

Common questions

My employer says final pay goes through "next month's run". Is that allowed?

No. It is due on or before the pay day for your last pay period. A short delay for a genuine payroll cut-off is one thing; a month is a breach.

I was dismissed for serious misconduct. Do I still get holiday pay?

Yes. You lose the notice period, nothing else. Annual holidays and the 8% are statutory and must be paid.

Can my employer make me take my holidays during the notice period?

They can ask, and if you agree it comes out of your entitled days. They cannot force it unless the notice period includes a closedown or your agreement allows it. Taking leave during notice can also push your last day of employment out, so check the agreement wording.

Does a redundancy payment affect my holiday pay?

Only if your agreement says the redundancy sum counts as gross earnings. If it does, the 8% is calculated on it too.

I never signed an employment agreement. Does any of this apply?

All of it. Minimum entitlements under the Holidays Act and the Wages Protection Act apply whether or not there is a written agreement, and an employer who did not provide one has its own problem.

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Last reviewed 14 October 2026. Written by Streetwise from the official pages listed above. General information only, not legal or financial advice.