Addressing Holidays Act non-compliance

The Payroll Leadership and Governance group (PLG) was set up to oversee the Payroll Sector Leaders workstream groups, which have different focus areas to aid in improving compliance with the Act. The PLG directs and steers the groups, and raises and discusses overarching areas of potential impact on employers’ compliance with the Act. The group comprises payroll sector leaders based on their professional business knowledge and industry-specific expertise.

The purpose of the Payroll System Functionality group (PSF) is to identify ways to improve the capabilities of payroll systems and how they are used. This includes working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to develop guidance intended to help employers and employees in applying aspects of the Act.

Pay for leave and holidays guidance

The PSF group is integral to identifying areas of concern and creating the scenarios that will help people to comply with the Act. The PSF group comprises MBIE, payroll system providers, professional service providers and a payroll practitioner body.

The purpose of the Payroll Practitioner Professionalisation group (PPP) is to initiate, develop and support a network of payroll professionals to allow specialists to share their experiences and advice on best practice in order to grow and maintain payroll standards in New Zealand. The PPP is also exploring ways in which payroll can be developed as a career.

The group comprises representatives with a range of interests in the payroll practice sector, including small business representatives and professional bodies, as well as senior industry professionals from the public, private and non-profit sector.

The key objective of the Payroll Function Assurance Model group (PFAM) is to consider all aspects of the lifespan of a payroll system, from the point of purchase through to installation, implementation, maintenance, and user interaction, and to determine where the responsibility lies in ensuring a system’s reliability at each of these stages.

PFAM is also considering whether a model can be put in place that is capable of ensuring end-to-end payroll system compliance with the Act. The group comprises representatives from organisations with an interest in the provision of assurance, including legal practitioners, professional service providers, payroll practitioners, auditing and accounting bodies, and government.

The key objective of the Payroll Operational Procedures (POP) group is to create a set of standard operating payroll processes that employers can use for setting up and monitoring their own payroll system, and tips on how to use these tools to keep payroll processes up-to-date.

Members of the group comprise senior industry professionals from the public, private and non-profit sector, and assurance specialists.

An Enforceable Undertaking is a voluntary commitment by the employer to address certain defined breaches within a certain timeframe. If that does not happen, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) can issue a compliance order and if that is not followed, then an order for penalties. If for instance money owed to workers is not paid, the breach may go straight to the District Court for civil debt enforcement proceedings.

An Improvement Notice describes the employment law breach, and sets out the date and steps by which the employer must remedy the breaches. If the employer fails to do so, the Labour Inspector may seek enforcement through a compliance order from the ERA.