Paying Employees for Public Holidays

Employees working on a public holiday earn pay of 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for all hours worked. This includes managerial and professional employees and operators of group homes. The pay rate of 1.5 is in addition to the normal day's pay calculated below in Public Holiday Pay.

Employees receive five per cent of their wages in the 28 days (four weeks) before a public holiday as public holiday pay.

The calculation includes all wages earned in the 28 days (four weeks), including vacation pay for vacation taken during the four weeks before the public holiday, and any public holiday pay for public holidays that occurred during the four weeks before the public holiday. The calculation does not include overtime.

A new employee is entitled to public holiday pay even if they have been employed for less than four weeks before the public holiday. The amount of public holiday pay is five per cent of the regular wages earned by the new employee before the public holiday.

Example:

An employee earns regular wages of $600/week, plus commission. In the four weeks before a public holiday, the employee takes one week of vacation for which the employee receives $600. The employee also earns $1,000 in commission. The calculation would be:

Salaried Employees Who Receive a Day off With Pay

If the employee receives the day off with pay, then this amount would be taken off the $170 calculated above. Assuming a five day week, the employee would earn a base wage of $600 ÷ 5 days = $120. Taking off the $120 would leave a balance of $50 to be paid ($170 - $120 = $50).

In some cases, employees on a fixed salary that have the day off with pay will have received proper payment for the public holiday. When the public holiday falls on an employee's day off, some employers may give the employee the option of receiving five per cent of their pay or taking an additional day off with pay.

Hourly-Paid Construction Employees

Public holiday pay for hourly-paid construction employees is four per cent of wages (excluding overtime and vacation pay) earned in the calendar year. Public holiday pay must be paid on or before December 31 in the year in which it was earned, or within 14 days of termination.

Employees Who Quit, are Laid Off or Terminated Before a Public Holiday

You must be an employee to be entitled to public holiday pay. If your employment ends before the holiday, you wouldn’t get public holiday pay for that day.

Visit the Public Holiday Pay Calculator to calculate the amount of public holiday pay owed to an employee. 

During a week with a public holiday, employees receive overtime after working 32 hours. The 32 hours does not include any hours worked on the public holiday.

Daily overtime depends on the employees' schedule. Employees scheduled to work eight hours per day receive overtime after eight hours. Employees scheduled to work 10 hours per day receive overtime after 10 hours.

Workplaces With an MWA or Averaging of Hours Permit

Where a workplace has a modified work arrangement (MWA) or an averaging of hours permit, each public holiday in the averaging period will reduce the number of hours before overtime is to be paid by eight hours. For example, if a public holiday falls within an averaging period of 160 hours over four weeks, overtime becomes payable after 152 hours.

Overtime is also payable after employees work more hours than the daily limit stated in the MWA or averaging permit.