Holidays Act Remediation FAQ

The issues relate to entitlements under the Holidays Act 2003 and primarily impacts permanent team members who work variable and unpredictable work patterns or work above their contracted hours. In some but not all cases, these team members have not received correct payments and remediation needs to occur. Remediation has been calculated back to April 2004, which is the date the Holidays Act came into effect.

The Holidays Act legislation is complex with varying rules and calculations for different leave types. This issue is not isolated to Bunnings and is a wide issue affecting many employers.

The issue relates to a number of past and current permanent team members, employed between 1 April 2004 to 31 May 2018.

Affected team members (past and present) will receive a letter from us with information about their remediation payment and how they can have it paid. Not all team members who worked during this period are affected, as their holiday pay was calculated at the correct or higher rate. Bunnings is not recovering any overpayments as part of the remediation.

For past team members, we are using the last known contact details we had for them when they left the business. If you believe you are eligible and have not been contacted, please complete the online claim form or call us on the number provided on this page.

Everyone’s earnings history and leave patterns are unique and, as such individual calculations for each team member have been completed. As a result, each payment amount is unique and Bunnings will write to each of the affected team members and advise of the amount owed. If you believe you are eligible and have not been contacted, please complete the online claim form or call us on the number provided on this page.

Current team members will be paid immediately as we already have all the necessary information to process these payments. We will automatically process your remediation payment into the bank account that your ordinary salary or wages are deposited to.

Past team members will be paid as soon as possible upon receipt of your completed claim form and necessary documentation. Depending on claim volumes it may take several weeks to process your claim.

Interest will not be paid on top of the remediation payments; however, we will apply inflation at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand CPI rate to ensure the time value of money is reflected in your remediation payment. We considered this to be fairest approach and is in addition to what we are required to do.

We appreciate that it has taken time to determine and process the remediation payments. Our focus has been on investigating the issue thoroughly and ensuring the remediation payment calculations are accurate for each team member. We have engaged several third parties to verify our calculations as well as working closely with the Labour Inspectorate.

Yes, current team members will receive a payslip available on My Bunnings Details once the payment is made, consistent with how all payslips are delivered.

Past team members will have a payslip emailed or mailed (as advised by you) to their nominated email or mailing address upon payment of their remediation payment.

The calculation of remediation payments is complex involving a large amount of data, and as such detailed calculation break downs will not be provided with the letter detailing the amount of your remediation payment. However, if you wish to obtain a detailed statement of your calculation this can certainly be arranged on request.

Current team members do not need to provide any documentation as we already have your current bank account, KiwiSaver/AMP and taxation details.

Past team members will need to lodge a claim form, which can be lodged immediately online. The following documentation is required to be uploaded to complete your claim:

• Proof of identity: copy of birth certificate, passport, certificate of citizenship, immigration NZ visa, drivers license or HANX 18+ card, please note if your identity document has two sides both sides must be provided;
• Tax code and IRD number: a signed Tax Code Declaration Form (IR330); and
• if contributing to KiwiSaver a signed IRD KiwiSaver Deduction Form (KS2)

The claim form and lodging of these documents can be completed electronically via the online claim form. Otherwise a claim can be lodged by email by downloading the PDF form, printing it, completing it and scanning or photographing the completed form along with the above supporting documents.

No, current team members do not need to complete a claim form we already have all your current details on file. We will automatically process your remediation payment into the bank account that your ordinary salary or wage is deposited to.

To ensure you receive the money owed to you we must obtain proof of identify. Information relating to your KiwiSaver/AMP fund, taxation and bank account details are needed to be able to process your payment.

Your documentation will be reviewed and verified by our Payroll team. Once we have confirmed your claim and documentation is in order we will process your remediation payment to your nominated back account as soon as possible. A payslip detailing the payment made to you as well as any KiwiSaver and/or AMP contributions will be provided via email or mail.

Please make a claim either online, via email or call us on the number provided on this page for assistance.

To ensure we pay the money owed to the appropriate people we are required to verify your identity and confirm that you are authorised to act on behalf of the estate or team member.

If you believe you may be entitled to a remediation payment on behalf of an estate or a team member whom which you hold power of attorney, please call us so we can work with you to confirm your eligibility to a remediation payment and process the payment for you.

Current team members will have income tax withheld at the appropriate withholding rate for the FY19 tax year.

Past team members will have withholding tax deducted in accordance with the tax code you provide to us as declared in your signed Tax Code Declaration Form (IR330).

We encourage you to discuss with the relevant organisations how your remediation payment may impact child support, benefits or other such matters you may receive. If you have any concerns about this, please call us on the number provided on this page.

Current team members will have KiwiSaver and/or AMP contributions on their remediation payment based on your contribution set up already provided to us.

Past team members are required to provide their KiwiSaver/AMP details and nominate their contribution percentage to Bunnings and this will be deducted from your remediation payments and paid to your KiwiSaver/AMP fund.

Should no KiwiSaver or AMP nomination be made, no contributions will be made and the payment made to you will not have KiwiSaver or AMP contributions deducted.

Yes, should you make a team member contribution from your remediation payment, Bunnings will also contribute 150% of your contribution up to a maximum cap of 7.5% across both KiwiSaver and AMP. Bunnings’ contribution is an added benefit above your remediation payment and will only be paid for those team members that make a team member contribution to KiwiSaver and/or AMP.

Example: a team member elects to have 3% of their after-tax remediation payment contributed to KiwiSaver, Bunnings will contribute a further 4.5% into the team members KiwiSaver.

We appreciate the implications of this issue and understand the importance of ensuring it does not happen again. Future compliance with the Holidays Act has been a major focus of the work we have completed. We have worked closely with the Labour Inspectorate to ensure our systems and processes are as robust as possible to comply with the Holidays Act.

We are working to implement the required system and process changes to fully remediate our Payroll processes and systems, in the interim a holiday pay reconciliation process will be in place to ensure all holiday pay is correctly paid moving forward.

Please call us on 0800 101 111, Monday to Friday, between 8:00am – 9:00pm.