Labour Day 2025: What opens, what closes, and when restaurants can add a surcharge

HouGarden New Zealand, 21 October — Labour Day is a public holiday fixed by law on the fourth Monday in October each year. It commemorates the eight-hour working day and, this year, falls on 27 October. It is the last three-day weekend before the Christmas break.

Unlike Christmas, Easter and Anzac Day, businesses are not legally required to close on Labour Day. However, employment law requires that staff who do work on a public holiday be paid time-and-a-half and receive an alternative paid day off.

Large chain retailers generally open on Labour Day, with many running Labour Weekend sales. Supermarkets typically trade as well, though their hours may differ from a normal Monday, so it is worth checking with individual stores before heading out.

Restaurants and cafes often open, but many choose to pass on the increased wage costs to customers through a surcharge. The Restaurant Association has said the typical surcharge is 15 percent, though it stressed this is industry practice rather than a legal ceiling or floor.

Consumer NZ, the independent consumer advocacy organisation, has noted that a business can charge any surcharge amount it likes, as long as it informs customers in advance. That disclosure can take the form of signage at the premises, a notice on the business's website, or a verbal explanation before the customer orders.

If a customer believes they were not properly informed about a surcharge, they can file a complaint with the Commerce Commission, New Zealand's competition and consumer regulator.

It is also worth remembering that many restaurants close on Mondays regardless of whether it is a public holiday. Calling ahead or checking the venue's social media page before making plans is advisable.

All government departments will be closed on Labour Day. Work and Income has confirmed that anyone normally paid on 27 October will instead receive their payment on Friday 24 October.

Monday 27 October also marks the official opening day of early voting for the general election. However, the Electoral Commission has made clear that only some polling places will actually be staffed on the public holiday itself, so voters planning to cast an early ballot that day should confirm their local site is open.

Labour Day's origins in New Zealand trace back to Wellington carpenter Samuel Parnell, who in 1840 refused to work more than eight hours a day. His terms to a prospective employer became part of the national story: "There are 24 hours per day given us; eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation and in which for men to do what little things they want for themselves. I am ready to start to-morrow morning at eight o'clock, but it must be on these terms or none at all."

On 28 October 1890, Parnell led a Labour Day parade of 1,500 people in Wellington to mark the establishment of the eight-hour working day and to urge other industries to follow suit.

Parliament's records show that legislative progress was gradual. The Employment of Females Act 1873 made it illegal to employ women for more than eight hours a day; subsequent laws extended the same protection to children and young workers.

The Labour Day Act 1899 formally established the public holiday. Today, the eight-hour day is not explicitly written into statute, but it is implicit in the Minimum Wage Act 1983, which sets a standard 40-hour, five-day week as the norm for employment agreements.