More than $544.2 million now repaid to more than 72,000 employees
Health New Zealand has repaid approximately $14 million to thousands of current employees of the Tairāwhiti District who were impacted by the agency's incorrect payments under the Holidays Act.
Cath Cronin, Health NZ Executive Regional Director Te Manawa Taki, said the agency processed on Thursday the remediation payments to a total of 1,203 current Tairāwhiti District employees.
"I want to acknowledge the patience of our staff who have been waiting for their payment and also recognise the huge work from our payroll teams, both nationally and in the regions, who have worked tirelessly on this program," Cronin said in a statement.
Health NZ Remediation Payment
The payment is part of Health NZ's Holidays Act Remediation payment, which is the government's initiative to repay 90,000 current and 130,000 former employees who were paid incorrectly as a result of Holidays Act 2003 compliance issues.
With the Tairāwhiti repayment, the total amount repaid nationally has surpassed $544.2 million for 72,296 employees.
"We have made significant progress in the remediation project with over two-thirds of our current Health New Zealand employees now having received the money they are owed," Cronin said.
This also means that more than 75% of Health NZ's national payrolls have been rectified.
"This means those payrolls are now compliant with the Act and staff are being paid correctly for their holidays in a nationally consistent way," the regional director added.
Tairāwhiti District is the 19th payroll nationally to have its current employees' payments repaid.
Health NZ said it expects most current employees to be repaid this year. Meanwhile, first payments to former employees are set to begin this second half of 2025 and continue into 2026.
