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23 November 2026 | Crowne Plaza, Auckland & Virtual

Prepare your people, payroll and policies for the new leave framework

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New Zealand’s leave law is heading for its biggest reset in more than 20 years. With the Employment Leave Act set to replace the Holidays Act, employers will need to understand what the new framework means for leave accrual, payroll systems, public holidays, casual and variable workforces, remediation risk and day-to-day compliance. 

Employment Leave Reform NZ 2026 will give HR, payroll, legal, finance and people leaders a practical roadmap for preparing their people, systems and policies for the new leave framework. Timed after the Select Committee report, the conference will help employers move beyond uncertainty and start planning for implementation with clarity. 

Why should you attend?

  • Understand the reform and what the Employment Leave Act means for employers
  • Prepare early for changes to leave accrual, payments, public holidays and payroll processes
  • Identify compliance risks across HR, payroll, finance and legal teams
  • Get payroll-ready for the move toward a new leave framework
  • Plan your transition across people, policies, systems and communications
  • Hear practical guidance from employment law, payroll and workplace relations experts
  • Benchmark your approach with other New Zealand employers
  • Leave with clear next steps to support implementation planning

Who should attend?

  • HR and People & Culture Leaders
  • Payroll Managers and Payroll Specialists
  • Employment Relations and Industrial Relations Leaders
  • Finance Managers and CFOs
  • Compliance and Risk Managers
  • Operations Managers with rostered or variable workforces
  • Public sector, council, health, education, retail, hospitality, manufacturing and transport employers
  • Payroll software providers and implementation partners
  • Employment lawyers and workplace relations advisors

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KEY SPEAKERS FOR 2026

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Featured workshop: Holidays Act reform

A practical session explaining the Holidays Act reforms, how leave calculations change, and how to prepare systems and teams for compliance.

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Venue

The location and how you can get there

Address

Crowne Plaza Auckland
128 Albert Street,
Auckland 1010

Agenda

Agenda to be announced

8:30

Registration and Coffee

9:00

Welcoming remarks from the Chair

Hannah King, Partner, Kiely Thompson Caisley

9:10

Opening address: Inside the Employment Leave Bill

A policy overview of the proposed reforms and the Government’s objectives to simplify leave entitlements, improve compliance, and modernise the framework for contemporary work patterns.

  • Why the Holidays Act is being replaced

  • The move to an hours-based leave framework

  • Key policy objectives and expected outcomes

  • Timeline and legislative process

Daniel Erickson, Partner, Tompkins Wake

9:40

Understanding the New Leave framework

A deep dive into how leave will accrue, be taken and paid under the new system

  • Leave accrual in hours rather than days or weeks

  • Standard hours, additional hours and casual hours explained

  • How leave balances will be calculated and recorded

  • What changes for part-time, shift and variable-hour employees

  • Implications for leave management and record keeping

Sianatu Lotoaso, Senior Associate, Buddle Findlay

10:10

Morning break

10:40

Getting Payroll Ready for Employment Leave Reform: What Needs to Happen First

  • Building your understanding progressively: Understanding the main changes, including hours-based leave and leave compensation payments, and extending that knowledge as technical guidance and operational examples become available.

  • The guidance payroll is waiting for: Why a detailed MBIE payroll specification is needed to support system design. Initial technical guidance may be available around December 2026, but further detail will be needed as development progresses.

  • The need for operational payroll test cases: Why MBIE needs to provide comprehensive scenarios, worked calculations and expected results covering everyday payroll, complex working arrangements and transition issues. These are essential to support consistent system design and meaningful testing.

  • Giving payroll providers time and support: What providers need to begin informed design work, resolve interpretation questions, build functionality and test their systems- and why employers’ plans depend on this progress.

  • The election and its potential impact: How the upcoming election could affect implementation, including the possibility that a future government could change, delay or repeal the Act before the new requirements take effect.

  • Setting realistic project expectations: Why substantial employer implementation projects may begin in late 2027, as new functionality becomes available and initial testing becomes possible. Timing will depend on provider readiness and each employer’s circumstances, while preliminary assessment and planning can begin earlier.

  • Setting realistic project expectations: Why substantial employer implementation projects may begin in late 2027, as new functionality becomes available and initial testing becomes possible. Timing will depend on provider readiness and each employer’s circumstances, while preliminary assessment and planning can begin earlier.

  • Treating conversion as a major project: The complexity of validating and converting payroll data and leave balances, preserving the ability to review and correct historical pay under the old rules, and applying the new rules and transitional requirements correctly. This work is a major project in its own right

David Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer, New Zealand Payroll Practitioners Association

11:30

Systems and Technology: Integrating Leave Reform into HR and Payroll Platform

  • System architecture considerations for leave reform implementation

  • Integration between payroll, HRIS and time-tracking systems

  • Data accuracy and leave balance management

  • Managing mixed work arrangements and variable hours

  • Planning system updates ahead of the transition period

  • Reducing implementation risk through governance, documentation and change control

Stephan Blumenberg, Director | Principal Consultant, Alxemy

12:10

Audience Q&A

12:20

The Business Impact of Leave Reform: Cost, Compliance and Workforce Planning

  • How leave reform may affect employer costs, leave liabilities and budgeting

  • Understanding the operational impact on workforce planning, rostering and backfill arrangements

  • Managing the impact on SMEs, large employers and complex workforces

  • Balancing compliance obligations with business continuity and productivity

  • Assessing compliance costs against the risk of under-preparation or non-compliance

  • Practical steps leaders can take to prepare the business before the reforms take effect

Mike Pullar, Director, Data & Remediation Manager, Premium Payroll Solutions

12:50

Lunch Break

13:50

Managing Leave Reform in Complex Workforces

  • Exploring reform impacts for shift-based, casual, and variable-hour employees

  • Understanding challenges across overtime, allowances, changing rosters and public holidays

  • Identifying high-risk sectors such as health, retail, the waterfront, hospitality, transport, and education

  • Sharing practical approaches for managing complexity and reducing risk

John Gray-Smith, Associate, Duncan Cotterill

14:20

Making Sense of Public Holidays and Otherwise Working Days

  • Understanding the proposed approach to Otherwise Working Days

  • Clarifying public holiday entitlements for rostered and variable workforces

  • Managing alternative holidays, transferred holidays and on-call arrangements

  • Reducing disputes around public holiday eligibility and payments

  • Applying practical examples to common workplace scenarios

Emma Peterson, Partner, Russell McVeagh

14:50

Afternoon Break

15:20

Roundtables:- In Person Attendees only


1. Complex Workforce Clinic: Casuals, Shift Workers, Overtime and Allowances

Bridget Cunningham, Senior Associate, Duncan Cotterill


2. Payroll System Readiness: Connecting HRIS, Rostering, Time and Payroll Data

Stephan Blumenberg, Director | Principal Consultant, Alxemy


3. Remediation and Historical Liability: What Should Employers Be Checking Now?

Mike Mercer, Senior Associate, Simpson Grierson


4. Legal Risk Areas in the Transition to the New Leave Framework

Julia MacGibbon, Senior Associate, Tompkins Wake


5. Managing Employee Disputes Under the New Framework

Sarah McFetridge, Senior Associate, Bell Gully


15:50

Employment Agreements and Legal Implications

  • What employers need to consider when updating employment agreements and internal policies to align with the new legislation

  • Updating employment agreement clauses

  • Managing collective agreements and bargaining implications

  • Public holiday and alternative leave changes

  • Defining working hours and employment arrangements clearly

  • Legal risk areas for employers

Rosemary Wooders, Partner, Bell Gully

16:20

Managing the Transition: Deadlines, Procedures and Practical Guidelines for Employment Leave Reform

  • Key commencement dates and transition timelines

  • What employers need to update before the reforms take effect

  • Required changes to policies, contracts, payroll systems and internal processes

  • Procedural steps for handling leave requests under the new framework

  • Record keeping, communication and employee notification requirements

  • Common implementation risks and how to avoid non-compliance

James Warren, Partner, Dentons

16:50

Audience Q&A

17:00

Summary remarks from the Chair & Networking Drinks

Hannah King, Partner, Kiely Thompson Caisley

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2026 Speakers:

Mike Mercer

Senior Associate
Simpson Grierson
Mike is a Senior Associate at Simpson Grierson and a recognised expert in Holidays Act compliance and remediation.  He has advised extensively on large-scale Holidays Act remediation projects, helping employers navigate complex historical liability and back-payment issues.  Mike was invited to present to the Select Committee on the new Employment Leave Act and drafted extensive submissions on the reform.  At this year’s summit, Mike will speak on the roundtable “Remediation and Historical Liability: What Should Employers Be Checking Now?”, sharing practical insights on identifying and managing legacy compliance risk.  He brings technical knowledge and a pragmatic, solutions-focused approach to helping employers get their payroll practices right for the transition to the Employment Leave Act.

Stephan Blumenberg

Director | Principal Consultant
Alxemy
Stephan Blumenberg is Director and Principal Consultant at Alxemy Business Solutions, with more than 20 years’ experience in payroll, HRIS and workforce management technology. He specialises in helping organisations navigate complex payroll and compliance change, from strategy and system design through to implementation, integration, data migration, testing and remediation. Stephan has led large-scale payroll and HR technology programmes across New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, working with organisations with complex workforces and operating environments. His current focus includes helping organisations understand the practical system, data and implementation implications of New Zealand’s Employment Leave reforms and prepare their payroll and workforce technology for the transition.

Bridget Cunningham

Senior Associate
Duncan Cotterill
Bridget Cunningham is a Senior Associate in Duncan Cotterill’s Employment Law team. Bridget advises employers on managing complex workforces and the compliance risks that come with this, particularly in light of recent legislative reform such as the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 and what that means for businesses moving forward. Bridget has experience advising large and complex organisations, covering a range of issues including shift workers, overtime pay, allowances, and variable hours.  

David Jenkins

Chief Executive Officer
New Zealand Payroll Practitioners Association
David Jenkins is CEO and founder of the New Zealand Payroll Practitioners Association (NZPPA), which he established in 2007 to support and professionalise payroll practice in New Zealand. He has more than 25 years’ experience across payroll, HR, employee relations and payroll technology, and has advised on some of New Zealand’s largest and most complex payroll environments. David also develops NZPPA’s training and resources and is a regular commentator on payroll compliance, legislation and industry reform.

Sianatu Lotoaso

Senior Associate
Buddle Findlay
Sianatu specialises in employment (and related laws) and dispute resolution.  Sianatu advises on all aspects of the employment relationship.  Her experience spans public and private sectors and includes personal grievances, investigations, executive negotiated exits, disciplinary processes, restraint of trade, performance management, medical incapacity, restructuring and redundancy.  She also advises on collective and individual employment agreements.

Sarah McFetridge

Senior Associate
Bell Gully
Sarah is a senior associate in the employment and workplace safety team. She acts on a broad range of employment law matters, both contentious and non-contentious. Sarah has particular experience in advising clients undergoing employee investigations, personal grievance claims, disciplinary and performance processes, restructurings and negotiated exits. She is regularly engaged on the employment aspects of corporate transactions, large-scale global projects, and represents clients navigating dispute resolution processes. She also assists clients to implement sound practices in New Zealand, including advising on cross border issues, executive remuneration arrangements, employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, bonuses, and other HR documentation and policies.
Sarah joined Bell Gully having returned to New Zealand after five years in London where she gained international experience in employment and pension law at Slaughter and May, and Reed Smith. Prior to Sarah’s time in London, she was part of the employment and health and safety team at another top tier New Zealand law firm.​​ In 2021, Sarah contributed to Allen & Overy’s “Employment Reorganisation Roadmap​”, a free resource which answers key questions about the process to follow in employment reorganisations in 35 jurisdictions, including New Zealand.

Julia MacGibbon

Senior Associate
Tompkins Wake
Julia is an experienced litigator having assisted both local and international clients with all aspects of dispute resolution in both health and safety and employment matters. Julia regularly advises clients on Holidays Act 2003 issues and audits, disciplinary processes, and organisational restructuring. Her experience extends to acting as an independent investigator. Clients say “Julia MacGibbon is sharp, responsive, and communicates with clarity. An experienced litigator, she inspires confidence when preparing for and strategising around disputes.”  Julia is mentioned in The Legal 500 rankings for Asia Pacific and was selected in NZ Lawyers Rising Stars 2021 list.  

Daniel Erickson

Partner
Tompkins Wake
Daniel leads Tompkins Wake’s Employment and Health & Safety Practice Group and is a recognised specialist in employment law. He advises employers across a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, freight and logistics, and retail, and is known for providing pragmatic, timely and easy-to-understand advice. Daniel also regularly assists senior executives and CEOs with the negotiation of employment agreements and exits. When matters cannot be resolved through negotiation or mediation, Daniel is an experienced litigator, appearing in the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court. He has particular expertise in health and safety compliance and regularly supports clients through WorkSafe New Zealand investigations and prosecutions. Daniel also undertakes complex external workplace investigations. He is recognised as a Recommended Lawyer by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific and a Leading Lawyer by Doyles Guide.

James Warren

Partner
Dentons
James Warren is a Partner in Dentons’ employment and workplace health & safety team in Auckland, with extensive experience in both the UK and New Zealand. He advises employers on complex workplace issues, regularly dealing with employee fraud and serious misconduct, including investigations, dismissals and the use of special remedies such as injunctions and freezing or search orders. His expertise includes managing the risks, evidence gathering and formal employment processes while navigating potential regulator or police involvement and criminal charges. An approachable and commercially focused advocate, James represents employers dealing with disputes, workforce change and employee claims, delivering practical solutions to difficult employment and regulatory challenges. James is consistently recognised in numerous legal directories, described as a “clear-thinking adviser” providing “robust and practical advice” and “great customer service.”

Emma Peterson

Partner
Russell McVeagh
Emma is a Partner in the Litigation team specialising in employment law and health and safety. She advises across the full range of employment issues, with a particular focus on personal grievances, confidentiality and restraints of trade, restructurings, and employment issues arising in insolvency. Before rejoining Russell McVeagh in 2016, she worked for a boutique insolvency firm in London and then at Simmons & Simmons in Hong Kong.

Hannah King

Partner
Kiely Thompson Caisley
Hannah is a solutions-driven employment law expert. She combines a high level of technical proficiency in handling complex legal issues with a pragmatic and commercial approach. Her experience spans the full range of contentious and advisory employment law issues, including privacy, health and safety and human rights matters arising in the workplace, and independent workplace investigations. When it comes to the most confronting and sensitive workplace issues, she is particularly adept at partnering with clients to manage risk, find practical solutions and deliver the best outcomes. Hannah has a wealth of experience representing clients at mediation and in litigation, serves as a trusted advisor to clients across diverse industries, and frequently presents at seminars and conferences. Hannah was recognised by Doyle’s Guide as a Rising Star in Employment and WHS Law in 2022 and 2023.  

Rosemary Wooders

Partner
Bell Gully
Rosemary is a highly experienced employment and workplace health and safety lawyer, trusted by clients across diverse industries. She advises employers and senior executives on a wide range of matters, including disputes, collective bargaining, restraints of trade, redundancies, and privacy issues. An experienced negotiator, she represents clients at mediation and before the Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court, and Coroner’s Court. Rosemary is particularly interested in the intersection of technology, privacy, and employment law, and frequently provides expert commentary through media, seminars, and publications in New Zealand and abroad.

Alastair Espie

Partner
Duncan Cotterill
Alastair is a specialist employment lawyer who excels in delivering solution-focused advice that gets results. He is regularly engaged to undertake independent investigations into workplace complaints in both the public and private sector. Alastair also routinely advises employers on the setting up of investigations and engagement of external investigators, and also has extensive experience assisting complainants and respondents as they work through investigation processes.

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