District Health Boards have revealed they owe $550-650 million to cover mistakes made since 2010 in leave and shift allowance pay under the Holidays Act. The bill dwarfs the Holidays Act payouts already made or being made by police, Corrections, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and other public and private sector employers. "Many organisations have been dealing with the issue of how to identify and rectify Holidays Act non-compliance, but in health the National government did nothing." The Holidays Act has been criticised for being unwieldy and is being overhauled. The boards' payroll arrears make up more than half of the overall public health sector deficit of $1.081 billion.

Source: Otago Daily Times October 08, 2019 01:30 UTC