When it comes to trading on public holidays, Anzac Day is a unique time in New Zealand when most businesses are required to close their doors for half of the day.
If you’re planning to attend a Dawn Ceremony, your options may be limited on what you can shop for on your way home.
Under the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990, there are four days each year when most businesses face restricted trading.
The full days affected were Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. Anzac Day differed from the other three in that trading would be closed until 1pm.
All except Easter Sunday were also public holidays.
Exceptions to the rules – what’s open?
Shops that could open with conditions included dairies, service stations, and cafes. Pharmacies could open without any conditions. Hairdressers could cut, colour and style during the restricted hours — but couldn’t sell product. Garden centres, which could open on Easter Sunday, were also prohibited from opening until 1pm on Anzac Day.
Some areas — generally, centres popular with tourists — have their own exemptions under legislation.
Also, some specific shops in Nelson, Dunedin and Wānaka could trade on Anzac Day within conditions. Queenstown could begin trading from noon rather than 1pm,.
The Coromandel towns of Tairua, Whangamatā, and Whitianga could trade if Anzac Day fell on a Monday or a Friday, such as in 2025.
If a shop opened without fitting one of the exemption categories, the “occupier” of the shop could be fined up to $1000.
Liquor could be purchased at some bars, cafes and restaurants, so long as it was accompanied by a meal.
What about surcharges?
It is common for traders in the hospitality sector to apply a surcharge on public holidays to offset the cost of paying staff time and a half wages for those days.
The Commerce Commission said establishments must make it clear to customers that a surcharge would be payable before they decided to purchase or engaged the service.
“It must be clearly disclosed, for example, by adding information to their website for online sales or placing a sign outside,” the commission advised on its website.
“In addition, the reason for any surcharge must be accurately described and must not be capable of misleading consumers. The surcharge should not exceed those costs, and the costs should actually be incurred by the business.”
