Watchdog now reviewing payroll records after reported issues with annual leave anniversary dates
New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has announced that it is reviewing its payroll records after identifying non-compliance with the Holidays Act 2003.
The financial markets watchdog, in a statement on its website, said it had identified an issue with how annual leave anniversary dates have been applied.
"Following specialist advice that our approach did not comply with the Holidays Act 2003; we have engaged an external payroll specialist to review our records and assess the impact," the FMA said on its website.
The review will cover both current and former employees, according to the FMA, which said it has yet to determine how many people may be affected and what the impact may be.
"Once it is complete, we will be able to determine whether anyone has been affected and whether any remediation is required," it said. "We are committed to understanding the issue fully and to putting things right where necessary."
The FMA said it will provide updates as the review progresses, and will contact affected staff once the review is complete.
Disclosure of issues
The FMA's announcement of the review came ahead of a Stuff media report exposing the Holidays Act breaches.
According to the Stuff report, former FMA lawyer Nelson Curry identified the problem and raised the matter with the watchdog ahead of his departure from the agency earlier this year.
Curry said the watchdog was using a standard date of 1 July for every employee's anniversary, instead of their actual first day at work.
"I raised with them internally that they would breach the Holidays Act if they paid me out using their current methodology," Curry said, as quoted by Stuff.
"They spent my last fortnight there telling me I was wrong, and not looking into it properly."
Alastair Hercus, acting chief executive of the FMA, told Stuff that concerns about non-compliance with the Holidays Act were first raised in 2024 and 2025.
These issues, which had since been addressed, related to leave cash-up applications. The leave calculation date issue was not identified until it was raised again around the time that Curry was leaving the agency.
Stuff reported that the FMA had already notified the Labour Inspectorate and the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE).
It also informed employees of the issue in a staff-wide email sent a day after Stuff enquired about the matter, according to the news outlet.
"I am sorry that we are informing you now just before a media story," Hercus said in the email, as quoted by Stuff.
The Holidays Act non-compliance adds to the growing challenges facing New Zealand's financial markets watchdog. It is also currently the subject of an independent investigation amid concerns about the workplace conduct and culture at the agency.
The FMA's former chief executive, Samantha Barrass, also left the agency earlier this month, according to reports, after attempting to overturn her suspension and amid a reported separate employment investigation into her conduct.
