Mondayised holidays delivered a double dose of headaches for some southern businesses during the holiday break.

Many businesses were closed on Monday as the January 2 public holiday was Mondayised.

The same thing happened last week, to mark the Boxing Day holiday.

ROBYN EDIE/FAIRFAX NZ Invercargill's East Road Pets Ltd staff, from left, Veronica Campbell, Kiri Whaanga, and owner Liz MacAskill say the Mondayisation of public holidays has worked out well.

Both Boxing Day and January 2 fell on Saturdays.

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Next summer, Christmas Day and New Year's Day will fall on Sundays, meaning the public holidays will be marked the following Mondays and Tuesdays.

The "Tuesdayisation" has some businesses worried about the impact on staffing levels during what is traditionally a busy time.

Invercargill's Sass Cafe owner Mark Hunter said Mondayisation caused them to stretch staffing resources through the busy period.

"So we've kind of sliced our workforce. It just poses a problem, but it's one of those things you've got to learn to work with."

Software could be used to work out rosters, Hunter said.

"We get legal advice from Hospitality New Zealand. I've got [Acepay] software so that if I do something wrong, it tells me and then it starts telling me the law to apply."

East Road Pets Ltd owner Liz MacAskill said she knew of some businesses which closed during Christmas and the new year period to avoid paying extra for public holidays.

"[They go] into holiday period so they don't have to pay their time-and-a-half."

The pet store did not close in the week between Christmas and the new year and had been "flat out", MacAskill said.

"We're not really affected over the break."

The pet store worked around Mondayisation by being flexible, MacAskill said.

"Basically what every business has to do is abide by the law and pay their staff accordingly."

Venture Southland group manager of business and strategic projects Steve Canny said most businesses took a traditional break during the Christmas and new year period and would not be affected by the two Mondayised holidays.

"It does have an impact on retail but most businesses don't work in the next week. I think there's positives and negatives around Mondayisation, but to be honest I think most people are taking their holiday as they would. There's not many negative points."

Businesses were on skeleton staff during Christmas and the new year already. Surcharges on public holidays was one way to cover the cost of bringing staff in, Canny said.

"Some businesses do, some don't. I've noticed that some businesses don't bring in surcharges to try and be a point of difference. In Wanaka some of the businesses are not bringing in surcharges."