Dunedin businesses appear to be up with the play when it comes to Holidays Act surcharges over Easter.
In the build-up to the Easter break, the Commerce Commission urged cafes and bars to make sure they did not mislead customers about reasons for imposing a surcharge.
Since the introduction of the Holidays Act 2003, many traders have chosen to apply a surcharge on public holidays to compensate for higher wages on those days.
However, Commerce Commission competition general manager Kate Morrison reminded traders the Saturday and Sunday of Easter were not public holidays.
''It would be misleading under the Fair Trading Act to claim a surcharge on Saturday and Sunday over Easter and represent that this is due to the Holidays Act, when those days are not public holidays.''
Most Dunedin businesses were closed yesterday, but it appeared those that were open - mainly bars and restaurants around the city - were following the regulations.
Despite being allowed to implement surcharges today, many had decided not to.
The Terrace Bar manager Nigel Taylor said the bar did not impose surcharges on public holidays.
''Originally, when it [the Holidays Act] first came out, people used it to recoup holiday pay costs.
''But now we've come to realise it's better to have people through the doors, and my observation is that 25% extra tends to turn people away.''
The Craic Irish Bar manager Aisling McKenzie agreed, and said it was not bar policy to impose surcharges, because the owner did not want to ''put people off''. It was a policy followed by many businesses spoken to by the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
However, the commission's Ms Morrison said consumers still needed to be wary of surcharges, particularly today, Easter Monday.
''Businesses that do apply a surcharge must ensure their potential customers are alerted to this, such as by a prominently displayed sign, before they order or make a decision to purchase.''
She said a business might not be entitled to charge a Holidays Act surcharge if the staff working on a public holiday, in this case Easter Monday, were casual and therefore not being paid extra under the regulations.
