Holidays Act remediation process

Find out what Hutt City Council is doing as part of the Holidays Act remediation process.


Compliance with the Holidays Act 2003 is a current issue for many organisations in New Zealand. It is a broadly nationwide issue which involves many different organisations across multiple industries.

Hutt City Council has identified potential payroll issues which have resulted in some employees receiving incorrect leave payments. Because of this, we are currently undertaking remediation work on payroll system and processes.

What you need to do

If you have received communication from us with a reference number, please log in to our remediation portal.

  1. Click “First time logging in / reset password”
  2. Enter your reference number then click “Submit”
  3. On the New Password page answer 2 of the 3 security questions then click “Submit”
  4. Your new password will be displayed on this page in bold, copy your password then click “Login Page” this will take you back to the Sign In page.
  5. Enter your Reference number then paste in your password and click “Sign In”.

For current employees we will let you know via email how and when your payment will be made.

For former employees, we need to verify your identity to make payment. By logging onto the remediation portal, you’ll be led through a step-by-step process.

You’ll need the following information before starting the process on the remediation portal

  • Your IRD number
  • Tax code declaration form IR330 (help selecting a tax code is on page 2)
  • KiwiSaver deduction form KS2 (for current KiwiSaver members)
  • Your bank account details
  • Reference number from the communication we sent you
  • Marriage / birth / dissolution of marriage certificate if your name has changed
  • Current driver licence or passport (a passport is required for anyone currently residing overseas)

Please complete the below forms and documentation and send to holidaysact@huttcity.govt.nz

Additional Information

The potential issues relate to entitlements under the Holidays Act 2003. The specific areas that require remediation date back to 2015, and are primarily related to the payment of statutory holidays, and the rate of payment for annual, alternative, sick and bereavement leave.

We are determined to do right by our people and have completed a review into all of our payments for the past seven years. Hutt City Council has worked with a professional services firm to investigate the issue, and a Holidays Act remediation specialist is calculating what may be owed to current and former employees.

Once we know exactly which former employees are owed payments, we will try our best to contact these former employees by last known contact details. Once done, they will be required to submit information to Hutt City Council enabling the payment to be made; this will include identification, bank account details etc.

If you are a former employee and were employed at Hutt City Council at or any time after March 2015, please register your contact details here.

The first round of remediation payments covers March 2015 to March 2022.  As with other organisations affected by non-compliance with the Holidays Act 2003, we are required to go back six years from the date Hutt City Council became aware of the Holidays Act issues.

Earnings history and leave patterns are unique, so each case has been assessed individually and each payment amount will be different.

Hutt City Council acknowledges that all leave payments were made in good faith. We accept responsibility for any overpayments and will not be seeking to recover those overpayments from employees.

We are working very closely with the Holidays Act remediation specialist to help them complete the remediation calculations which will identify who are owed payments. First payments were made to current and former employees in July and August 2022. For former employees we will need to source and validate required information. We expect to make payments to these former staff within 60 days of completing this process.

If you have any questions, please contact: holidaysact@huttcity.govt.nz