Employee leave policy template

Putting together a leave policy for your company? Managing employee leave policy can be complex, whether your New Zealand-based business is growing or well-established. From annual holidays to the different types of leave, there’s a lot to navigate and track. 

To help you get on top of things, we’ve put together a leave policy template. Designed to help you implement a policy in your workplace, the template may empower you to spend less time on admin, while maintaining compliance.

However, the real magic happens when you’re able to automate your HR processes, including leave management. Make life easier by using an employee management software to track and manage employee leave requests. This way, you can get a company-wide understanding of who’s going to be on leave, and when. Say goodbye to messy spreadsheets.

In this piece, we’ll take you through what’s included in our leave policy, the different types of leave you need to know about (annual leave, sick leave, parental leave and more) and how to track and manage leave applications. Fill in the form to download the template. 

What is in this leave policy template?

Our leave policy has been designed to help you provide employees with an understanding of their leave benefits and entitlements. 

In our leave policy document, you’ll find: 

• Information on leave eligibility and entitlements, including employment tests
• How employees should request to take their leave entitlements
• Any specific knowledge/procedures related to each type of leave

We’ve provided a taste of what you’ll find in the employment leave policy template in this piece, but for the full version, download the guide today.

What are the different types of leave?

There are a few different types of leave, each with its own requirements and set limits. 

Different types of leave include:

• Sick/personal leave
• Annual leave
• Parental leave
• Long service leave
• Community service leave
• Compassionate leave
• Family and domestic violence leave

We’ll take you through each one, including when they might be taken.

Sick leave or personal leave

Under New Zealand law, eligible employees can take 10 days of paid sick leave per year. This is the case for full-time, part-time and casual employees.

Employees are eligible for sick leave if they’ve:

• Worked continuously for 6 months with you, or
• They’ve worked for you for 6 months for an average of 10 hours per week, and at least 1 hour in every week or 40 hours in every month

As the employer, you can ask for a medical certificate or other proof that the employee was sick and could not work as a result. Employees can accumulate up to 20 days of sick leave, meaning they can carry over up to 10 days of unused sick leave into the next year. 

Annual leave

After working with you for 12 months continuously, employees become eligible for four weeks of paid annual leave under New Zealand law. Employees get four weeks’ paid annual leave on the anniversary of the day they started working with you. However, you may let your employees take their annual leave before their one-year anniversary. This is known as leave in advance. 

There is no limit on how much leave employees can carry over from year to year. However, you may decide to let your employee cash in some of their annual leave, or, following a fair process, may decide to make them take some or all of it. You can learn more about the process to follow when requiring employees to take annual leave on the Employment NZ website.

Parental leave

Under New Zealand law, eligible employees can take parental leave. There are four types of parental leave: primary carer leave, partner’s leave, extended leave and negotiated carer leave.

Primary carer leave

Employees who will be the primary carer of a new baby or child under 6 who has come into their care can take primary carer leave. 

• If an employee has worked for you for at least 10 hours a week for six months, prior to the expected birth date/date when care begins, they are eligible for 26 weeks of paid parental leave, receiving government-funded parental leave payments.
• If an employee has worked for you for at least 10 hours a week for 12 months, prior to the expected birth date/date when care begins, they can take up to 52 weeks of parental leave, including 26 weeks paid parental leave and 26 weeks unpaid parental leave (also known as extended leave).

Partner’s leave
Under New Zealand law, a spouse/partner can take up to two weeks unpaid partner’s leave to support their pregnant spouse/partner, or a spouse/partner taking primary care of a child under six. 

If an employee has worked for you for at least 10 hours a week for six months, they are eligible for one week’s unpaid partner’s leave.

If an employee has worked for you for at least 10 hours a week for 12 months, they are eligible for two weeks of unpaid partner’s leave.

Extended leave

Extended leave is a period of extra unpaid parental leave. It can be taken as outlined in the primary carer leave section above.

Negotiated carer leave

Under New Zealand law, negotiated carer leave allows employees who do not qualify for primary carer leave to take unpaid leave to care for their newborn or child they are becoming the primary carer of.

Negotiated carer leave exists for employees who have recently changed employees, work part-time or casually, or otherwise don’t meet eligibility criteria for primary carer’s leave. 

You can learn more about how employees can request negotiated carer leave from the Employment NZ website.

Long service leave

Long service leave is not mandated under New Zealand law. However, it is often part of an employment agreement and offered as recognition of an employee’s service to a company. It is paid leave that can be taken like annual leave. 

How much long-service leave your company offers, and how long an employee has to work with your company in order to qualify, will depend on your employment agreement.

Community service leave 

While there is no legal entitlement to community service leave, some employers may offer this as part of their employment agreement. Community service leave allows employees to take  time off in order to give back to their community.

Compassionate leave

Under New Zealand law, eligible employees can take up to three days of compassionate (or bereavement) leave per year. This can be used in situations where:

• A close friend or immediate family member passes away
• They experience a miscarriage or stillbirth, or their partner or former partner experiences a stillbirth
• Are organising estate or financial issues
• Are undertaking cultural responsibilities in relation to the death

Employees are eligible for compassionate leave if they’ve:

• Worked continuously for 6 months with you, or
• They’ve worked for you for 6 months for an average of 10 hours per week, and at least 1 hour in every week or 40 hours in every month

Employers can offer additional compassionate leave at their own discretion. You can read more about all situations where compassionate leave is applicable on the Employment New Zealand website.

Family and domestic violence leave 

According to New Zealand law, eligible employees affected by family or domestic violence can:

• Take 10 days of paid family violence leave each year
• Ask for a short-term flexible working arrangement for up to two months. This could involve a change in duties, work location, or start and finish hours

Employees are deemed eligible if they’ve:

• Worked continuously for 6 months with you, or
• They’ve worked for you for 6 months for an average of 10 hours per week, and at least 1 hour in every week or 40 hours in every month

Employees can also take paid family violence leave to support a child experiencing family violence, as long as that child lives with the employee at least some of the time. 

What are leave applications?

A leave application is a formal request from an employee to go on leave. It covers all types of leave (annual, sick, or other), and outlines:

• The dates that they’ll be absent from work
• The type of leave they’re looking to take 
• And, depending on the type of leave, the reason they’ll be away from work.

Leave applications make it easier for your company to track who’s away from work and when, so you can cover any absences. It also makes it easier for you to approve leave, and, if needed, reject leave if too many people are going to be away at once.

Ready to get started?

Looking to put together an employee leave policy for your workplace? Here at Employment Hero, we’ve put together a leave policy template, to help you manage your compliance without the headaches. 

Get a better understanding of the different types of leave and when they’re applicable, as well as the procedures that both you and your employees should follow when taking/negotiating each type of leave.