Attributable to Mat Parr, Acting Deputy Chief Executive Central | Ikaroa Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is pleased to confirm that approximately $5.3 million in Holidays Act remediation payments have been processed today for Wairarapa staff.

This is an important milestone in getting these payments to our staff.

The money is expected to be in the bank accounts of 709 staff owed a remediation payment by tomorrow morning.

Staff receiving payments work across the health system and include nurses, doctors, allied health staff, health care assistants, cleaners and administrators.

We are very pleased for our staff that payments have been processed today and our Wairarapa staff are receiving the money they are owed.

Resolving Holidays Act Remediation payments for these staff has been extremely complex and time-consuming work requiring a large amount of manual processing and specialist skills.

Nationally we have about 90,000 current employees plus 130,000 former employees covered by the Holidays Act remediation project, for the period from 1 May 2010 to the present day.

Wairarapa is the twelfth payroll nationally to have the payments processed to current staff with Auckland, Counties Manukau, Waitematā, Hawke’s Bay, South Canterbury, Taranaki and four former shared services completed, and a partial payment made in Bay of Plenty.

The payment to Wairarapa staff takes the total amount paid so far nationally to over $313.5 million across 42,638 current employees.

We aim to complete the Holidays Act remediation payments to most current employees by July 2025 and all will be completed this year. The first payments to former employees are expected to start shortly.