The city was well ahead of the next most-hungover, Dunedin, where a majority of respondents had also turned up to work hungover.
Hamiltonians appeared the least hungover of those polled in the country's six largest cities. Just 52 per cent of that city's respondents had ever experienced a hangover, compared to a national average of 68 per cent. And only 15 per cent of the Waikato metropolis' residents had taken a day off work because they were too hungover.
68 per cent of Kiwi women confessed to having been hungover at least once in their lives, compared to 67 per cent of men. But men who did drink were more frequently hungover, with 18 per cent of respondents saying they were hungover at least once or twice a month. Only one-tenth of women were hungover that often.
In a strange twist, Christchurch had the lowest rate of people who'd ever gone to work hungover, at 43 per cent, but the second-highest percentage after Wellington of people taking a hungover day off, at 28 per cent.
Nationwide, only three per cent of respondents were hungover on average once or twice a week.
Only about one per cent of New Zealanders were hungover more than four times a week.
Southern Cross Health Society chief executive Peter Tynan said it was encouraging to see "the responsible drinking message is getting through."
Mr Tynan said most young people were not over-indulging too often, as the study showed 40 per cent of people under 40 had a hangover only once or twice a year.
The data suggested people 50 and over were generally hungover less often than younger age groups.
Employment law advocate Danny Gelb said industry and location determined how dimly employers viewed hangovers.
People who did turn up for work hungover may point to pop culture figures such as Mad Men's Don Draper and The Wire's Jimmy McNulty as inspiration.
Like those two, most employees today worked in white collar or office-based service industries, where the impact of a hangover on others was usually less severe than in manufacturing, construction, or the agriculture sectors.
Mr Gelb said employers had an obligation to provide a safe working environment, so a hungover worker operating heavy machinery could be disciplined for potentially putting others in danger.
He said it was possible some people were still over the legal drink-drive limit when they turned up for work the morning after a booze-up.
Mr Gelb said some businesses used mobile drug and alcohol testing services. These took urine samples from workers suspected of being drunk or on drugs.
Mr Gelb said it was easy for crapulent employees in the short-term to "circumvent" suspicious bosses, as most doctors would issue a medical certificate if a patient complained of symptoms consistent with hangovers.
"In most employment agreements, an employee is not obliged to provide a medical certificate unless they're [off sick] for three consecutive days. However, also in a lot of employment agreements, if wanted, the employer has the right to request an employee get a medical certificate...for less than three consecutive days, provided the employer actually pays for it."
In the long-run, employers could punish such workers by giving negative feedback in performance or pay reviews.
"If someone has a history of being away multiple Mondays, or multiple Fridays, they can actually call them to task on that with regards to performance."
The Southern Cross survey of 1650 people also asked what "hangover cures" people put their faith in.
Hungover people were most likely to try water, pain relief, coffee and greasy breakfasts, in that order.
Most likely to be hungover once a month or more:
• People in their 40s
• People under 30
• Wellington and Dunedin residents
Most likely to be hungover at work:
• People in their 30s
• Wellington and Dunedin residents
Most likely to take a day off due to hangovers:
• People in their 30s
• Wellington and Christchurch residents
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