
Earlier this year The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) suggested that employers must provide paid public holidays to employees who are absent due to injury and who are receiving ACC weekly compensation.
These statements about the relationship between ACC weekly compensation and public holidays revealed a large grey area for employers and considerable confusion for both employees and employers.
The Holidays Act states that employers are not required to pay anything to employees while they are receiving ACC weekly compensation.
MBIE had got it wrong and when ACC wrote on their website that employers may have to pay their employees while they are getting weekly compensation for injuries, this only added further confusion.
In my interview with RNZ I discussed my opinion that MBIE had incorrectly interpreted the Holidays Act 2003 and the ACC legislation, and had failed to appreciate the legislative history of public holidays.
Originally published on bankside.co.nz