From 1 April 2019, the Domestic Violence – Victims’ Protection Act 2018 in New Zealand gives employees the right to:
At least 10 days of paid domestic violence leave, this is separate from Annual, Sick, and Bereavement leave.
Ask for short-term flexible working arrangements, lasting up to two months.
This entitlement applies to employees who have worked for at least six months or meet one of the following conditions:
The employment has continued for six months.
During the six months, the employee needs to have averaged 10 hours per week and worked either.
1 hour per week.
40 hours per month.
For more information about this leave, please see the link below:
There is also a factsheet available here:
How to set up New Zealand Domestic Violence Leave in MicrOpay
There are two options for setting up NZ Domestic Violence leave in MicrOpay.
Option one would be to use Other Leave with a Leave Reason and use the Leave History Report to track the number of days that have been taken.
Option two would be to create a User Defined Leave, this would be attached to the employee so that a balance is available.
If you intend for your employees to apply for this type of leave via third party software (e.g., Employee Self Service), please check what is visible in the display of leave taken by general staff.
Option One - Other Leave with a Leave Reason
Set up the Leave Reason in the New Zealand database:
Go to Payroll, Maintenance, Leave, Leave Reasons, and select Add.
Enter a Code and Description.
Choose Other as the Leave Type and Average Daily Pay as the Rate Type.
Click OK to save.
To process NZ Domestic Violence Leave in MicrOpay Timesheets.
Go to Payroll, Transactions, Processing, Extended Timesheet, and select the Employee.
Choose Other Leave and select the Leave Reason set up above. Enter the number of hours to be paid, the Start and End Date, and Add any other Pay Components due to be paid and Process when completed.
To review the number of days taken for this type of leave, go to Payroll, Reports, General, Employee Leave History Report. Select the Domestic Violence Leave as the Leave Reason and enter the date range required. You can also add a filter on the Employee.
Option Two - User Defined Leave
Set up the User Defined Leave Type in the New Zealand database:
Go to Payroll, Maintenance, Leave, User Defined Leave, and select Add.
Enter the Code and Description.
Choose Grant as the Method.
If a Leave Reason already exists, select it from the drop-down list and proceed to step six. If it doesn’t exist, right-click and choose Add New from the menu.
Enter a Code and Description.
User Defined Leave will automatically populate the Leave Type. Select Average Daily Pay as the Rate Type.
Click OK to save.
Back on the User Defined Leave set up under the Entitlement: Maximum each Period enter in 10 Days Each 1 Year.
Change Accumulate Entitlements to Reset Entitlement to zero whether positive of negative.
Click OK to Save
Attach the Leave class to the New Zealand Employee
When an employee qualifies for Domestic Violence Leave, the User Defined Leave can be attached to the Employee record. At the end of the year, the Leave should be reviewed; if it is no longer needed, it should be removed from the Employee's record; otherwise, it will be granted another 10 days.
Go to Payroll, Maintenance, Employees, Employees and select Leave.
Click Add and select User Defined Leave as the Leave Type.
Then select the Leave Type created above as the User Defined Leave Class.
Tick Grant Immediately, this will grant the leave the next time leave is updated for the employee.
Change the Entitlement Date to reflect the date you want the entitlement to begin from.
Click OK and OK.
How to process New Zealand Domestic Violence Leave in MicrOpay Timesheets
Go to Payroll, Transactions, Processing, Extended Timesheet, and select the Employee.
Select User Defined Leave and select the Leave Type and Leave Reason set up above. Enter the number of hours to be paid, the Start and End Date, and Add any other Pay Components due to be paid and Process when completed.