Christmas and New Year Payroll Guide for 2025

The holiday season is nearly here!

With Christmas fast approaching, this is the perfect time for families and nannies to plan ahead and make sure everything is in place for a stress free end to the year. To help you prepare, we have outlined the key dates, leave requirements, and payroll details for the upcoming break.

Nannies should aim to have all their leave requests submitted by 5pm on Friday 19 December 2025. If you have any questions about your leave or your nanny’s leave, please get in touch before this deadline.

Pay The Nanny Office Hours Over Christmas

Our team will be available throughout the holiday period, although our office will be operating with reduced staff.

From Monday 22 December 2025 until Monday 5 January 2026 we will be running with skeleton staff. Payroll processing will continue as normal, however response times may be slightly slower and our phone will be offline. If possible, please send through any queries well in advance of the break.

Entering Leave Before the Break

If a nanny is taking annual leave during the closedown, this must be entered into the system by 5pm on Friday 19 December 2025.

A few reminders:

• When entering leave, nannies will see estimated hours for each day. These can be edited if needed.
• If leave is entered, there is no need to add normal hours as well.
• Ideally, leave should always be requested by the nanny and approved by the family.
• For paid public holidays, nannies should enter zero hours to avoid having leave included on those dates.
• If a nanny has not accrued enough annual leave to cover the closedown period, families and nannies should discuss how to manage the shortfall. This could be paid leave in advance or a period of unpaid time off.

If you need help navigating the system, our support page is available here or reach out to us at [email protected].

Annual Closedown for 2025

It’s common for families to elect to have an annual closedown in place over the Christmas period. An annual closedown allows an employer to require employees to take annual leave during a defined period. This is permitted under the Holidays Act, provided employees receive at least 14 days notice. More information is available on the Employment NZ website.

There isn’t a set length on how long the annual closedown should be and this varies based on the needs of each families.

If your family will be closing during this period, it is important to confirm this with your nanny as soon as possible. This ensures everyone is clear on the dates and the amount of annual leave required.

>> View more info around annual close downs.