Section 44(1)(k) of the Holidays Act 2003 provides every employee with an entitlement to a holiday on "the day of the anniversary of a province or the day locally observed as that day".

In other words, the local anniversary day.

There are twelve different provincial anniversary days observed in New Zealand - Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Nelson, Marlborough, Southland, South Canterbury, West Coast and Chatham Island.

Ace Payroll knows the exact dates observed by the above, and assists with highlighting and handling them - provided you tell the system which provincial anniversary day is relevant.

Doing this on a per employee basis is covered in the Employee Leave Profile FAQ.

For many employers, all staff observe the same provincial anniversary date, so it makes sense to have a company wide default setting.