Labour Weekend is a welcomed respite for many people.

The three day weekend ushers in the start of summer weather, which this weekend has been stunningly beautiful.

It's also a chance for people to go away and recharge before the final two months of the year.

But where did this three day weekend come from? What is known about the history Labour Day in New Zealand.

According to nzhistory.govt.nz, Labour Day commemorates the struggle for an eight-hour working day.

New Zealand workers were among the first in the world to claim this right when, in 1840, the carpenter Samuel Parnell won an eight-hour day in Wellington, says a post on the website.

Labour Day was first celebrated in New Zealand on October 28, 1890, when several thousand trade union members and supporters attended parades in the main centres.

Government employees were given the day off to attend the parades and many businesses closed for at least part of the day.

The history of Labour Day in New Zealand

Officeholidays.com reports that in 1840, Parnell reportedly told a prospective employer: "There are twenty-four hours per day given us; eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation…"

He encouraged other tradesmen in the colony to also restrict their work to only eight hours a day and by October 1840, a local workers' meeting passed a resolution supporting the idea.

On October 28, 1890, the 50th anniversary of the eight-hour day was marked with a parade.

The Government supported parades in the main centres by union members and supporters, giving public servants the day off to attend. Many businesses closed for the event. This led to an annual celebration in late October as either Labour Day or Eight-Hour Demonstration Day.

The New Zealand government legislated that the day be a public holiday from 1900, after Parliament passed the Labour Day Act 1899, but they didn't specify when it should be celebrated. This led to the holiday being on different days in different provinces, reports officeholidays.com

This date difference even led to complaints that sailors were having extra holidays by timing their visits to ports in different provinces to coincide with local Labour Day holidays.

The situation was clarified in 1910 when the date was ‘Mondayised' by the Public Holidays Act of 1910, when it was moved to the fourth Monday in October.