Relevant daily pay is used to calculate payment for public holidays, alternative holidays, sick days and paid bereavement days. Relevant daily pay reflects what the employee would have been paid if they had worked on the day in question.
1. In many cases it will be clear what payment the employee would otherwise have earned on the day – if this is the case, then that amount should be used as relevant daily pay. Any such calculation must include:
- productivity or incentives payments, including commission, if those payments would have been received had the employee worked
- overtime payments
- the cash value of board & lodgings provided.
If relevant daily pay is being determined for a public holiday, the amount does not include additional amounts added because of the requirement to pay time and a half.
2. In cases where this amount is not clear the payment is an average one calculated by dividing the employee's gross earnings for either:
- the four weeks before the end of the pay period immediately before the holiday or leave, or
- where the pay period is longer than 4 weeks, the pay period before the calculation
- by the number of whole or part days the employee either worked or was on paid leave or holiday during that period.
3. Employment agreements may specify a rate of relevant daily pay, but only if that rate is greater than or equal to the rate determined according to (1) or (2) above.
For an in-depth look at this and Holidays in general see our publication
Annual Holidays and Leave.If you purchase this publication, we will provide you with an upgrade for free when the Holidays Act review is completed later this year.
Please note: The above calculations apply until 1 April 2011, when the Holidays Amendment Act 2010 will take effect. We will provide you with information on the changes, in the next newsletter.