Public holiday frequently asked questions

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Public holidays during annual leave
Public holidays and annual leave payable on termination
Public holidays during long service leave
Public holidays that fall within a period of sick leave
Public holidays during the period of notice
Christmas annual close down or stand down
Public holidays during an unpaid leave of absence

Public holidays during annual leave

Annual leave is exclusive of public holidays. Therefore any public holidays falling within a period of annual leave must be added to the leave.

In some awards and agreements additional annual leave has been granted instead of receiving penalty rates for work on specified public holidays. Refer to those awards for specific particulars.

Public holidays and annual leave payable on termination

The Industrial Relations Act 1999 (PDF, 1.9MB) provides that when employment ends and an employee has not taken all their annual leave, they are presumed to have taken annual leave from the day of termination. An employer must immediately pay an employee for annual leave not taken including any public holiday occurring during the presumed leave period.

Public holidays during long service leave

Long service leave is exclusive of public holidays. Therefore any public holidays falling within a period of long service leave must be added to the leave.

Public holidays that fall within a period of sick leave

Sick leave does not affect public holiday entitlements. If a public holiday falls during a full time or part time employee's absence from work because of illness or incapacity - whether paid or unpaid - they should receive payment for the day as a public holiday.

An employee would be entitled to such payment as a public holiday whether the employee is entitled to be paid sick leave for the balance of the period or not. No reduction is made from the employee's sick leave entitlements for the public holiday.

The exception to the above are where a relevant industrial instrument provides otherwise or in circumstances where the contract of employment has been frustrated.

Public holidays during the period of notice

Notice is not extended because a public holiday occurs during the period of notice. A public holiday is treated as an ordinary day when calculating the period of notice.

Christmas annual close down or stand down

An employer may wish to close down their business operations for a period of time around Christmas. Some awards and agreements do make specific provision regarding annual closedown (also known as stand down), however, where there is no such provision, employers could use the following options in negotiations with employees:

For employees (excluding casuals) with annual leave due, paid annual leave for the period of the closure (in addition to payment for public holidays). The employer is required to give notice as prescribed by the Act or by the relevant award or agreement (the latter if it includes such a provision).
For employees (excluding casuals) who do not have annual leave due, the employer could, by mutual agreement, grant annual leave in advance.

Public holidays during an unpaid leave of absence

An employee absent on a period of unpaid parental leave or carer's leave (or special responsibility leave) under the provisions of either the family leave provisions of the Act or the Family Leave Award 2003, is not entitled to payment for any public holidays falling during such leave.

Last updated: 02 November 2006