Annual closedown reminders (NZ) via custom reminders
Guide for managers on how to send communications to their team members about annual closedowns in New Zealand using the custom reminder feature in MyHR.
Contents
Annual closedown communication options
Overview
You've read our annual closedown FAQ's and you're ready to communicate with your team. The easiest way to communicate is to send out information via the custom reminder feature in MyHR.
We have also provided you with some options for content.
Step-by-step instructions
- Go to Reminders on the left hand side navigation menu.
- Select + Add Reminder.
- Select Select People...
- Select the relevant employees, this can either be done by individually selecting the employee name, or via department and selecting select all.
- Select the event date (make this the deadline for when you need your team to submit their annual leave requests by).
- Select the Category drop down menu and select other from the list.
- Under Title, type "Annual Closedown".
- Under Description, copy and paste one of the communication options below and tailor accordingly.
- Select Send a reminder email about this upcoming event.
- Under Record Outcome, select None.
- Select Submit.
Annual closedown communication options
Below are four options for communication to send to your staff about the annual closedown.
You may find that you may have a couple of variations - i.e. select a version for your staff who have been employed for 12 months or longer, or less than 12 months, and therefore you may need to send communications out in a couple of batches.
For those employed 12 months or longer where you’ll allow accrued annual leave to be used:
As per the terms of your individual employment agreement I am reminding you of the company’s intention to undertake a closedown of our business from DATE to DATE, inclusive.
You will not be required to work during this annual closedown.
Annual leave and public holidays over the period of the annual closedown will be handled in accordance with the Holidays Act, as it applies to you:
- During this closedown we will be utilising your annual leave entitlement to pay you for any of your usual days of work that are not public holidays.
- If you do not have enough available annual leave to cover these days, I am pleased to inform you that we will grant you access to annual leave in advance of entitlement. This will ensure you do not miss out on pay at this important time of year.
- If you do not wish to use annual leave in advance of entitlement, the remainder of the closedown will be a period of unpaid leave. Please let me know if this is your preference by DATE [DELETE THIS TEXT BEFORE SENDING TO THE EMPLOYEE: We’d recommend a date 7 days after the annual closedown communications is issued].
Due to the volume of public holidays during this time, our regular pay run will be impacted. To minimise any impact this has on your finances at such an important time of the year, please be made aware that you will receive pay during this period on:
- DATE 1
- DATE 2
If you have any questions or concerns about this closedown or the treatment of your pay and leave, please do not hesitate to contact me prior to the closedown taking place. If we do not hear from you, we will proceed with the closedown and leave payments in accordance with the Holidays Act.
For those employed 12 months or longer, and you are not allowing accrued annual leave to be used:
As per the terms of your individual employment agreement I am reminding you of the company’s intention to undertake a closedown of our business from DATE to DATE, inclusive.
You will not be required to work during this annual closedown.
Annual leave and public holidays over the period of the annual closedown will be handled in accordance with the Holidays Act, as it applies to you:
- During this closedown we will be utilising your annual leave entitlement to pay you for any of your usual days of work that are not public holidays.
- If you do not have enough available annual leave to cover these days, the remainder of the closedown will be a period of unpaid leave.
Due to the volume of public holidays during this time, our regular pay run will be impacted. To minimise any impact this has on your finances at such an important time of the year, please be made aware that you will receive pay during this period on:
- DATE 1
- DATE 2
If you have any questions or concerns about this closedown or the treatment of your pay and leave, please do not hesitate to contact me prior to the closedown taking place. If we do not hear from you, we will proceed with the closedown and leave payments in accordance with the Holidays Act.
For those employed less than 12 months – and you will pay them 8% of their gross earnings at the time of the annual closedown / shifting of anniversary
As per the terms of your individual employment agreement I am reminding you of the company’s intention to undertake a closedown of our business from DATE to DATE, inclusive.
You will not be required to work during this annual closedown.
Annual leave and public holidays over the period of the annual closedown will be handled in accordance with the Holidays Act, as it applies to you:
- Due to your tenure with the company being less than 12 months, this is confirmation that in keeping with current legislation we will be paying out your annual leave earnings up to the closedown start date, less any leave taken in advance.
- Your anniversary date for annual holiday entitlements will move to DATE
Due to the volume of public holidays during this time, our regular pay run will be impacted. To minimize any impact this has on your finances at such an important time of the year, please be made aware that you will receive pay during this period on:
- DATE 1
- DATE 2
If you have any questions or concerns about this closedown or the treatment of your pay and leave, please do not hesitate to contact me prior to the closedown taking place. If we do not hear from you, we will proceed with the closedown and leave payments in accordance with the Holidays Act.
For those employed less than 12 months – managing an alternative way than required by employment legislation and therefore staying silent on specifics
As per the terms of your individual employment agreement I am reminding you of the company’s intention to undertake a closedown of our business from DATE to DATE, inclusive.
You will not be required to work during this annual closedown.
Annual leave and public holidays over the period of the annual closedown will be handled in accordance with the Holidays Act, as it applies to you.
Due to the volume of public holidays during this time, our regular pay run will be impacted. To minimize any impact this has on your finances at such an important time of the year, please be made aware that you will receive pay during this period on:
- DATE 1
- DATE 2
If you have any questions or concerns about this closedown or the treatment of your pay and leave, please do not hesitate to contact me prior to the closedown taking place. If we do not hear from you, we will proceed with the closedown and leave payments in accordance with the Holidays Act.
With this option, please be aware of the risk of not following legislation here. Specifically, the risk to the business is if it is audited, or if the practice is scrutinised as a result of a grievance process, the business may be found to be non-compliant. If reviewed by a Labour Inspector they’d require you to correct the issue by reviewing historic records and applying the 8% payment of gross earnings rule.
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