What is Public Holiday Leave?

Public holiday leave is one of the most important types of leave that each company needs to provide in order to comply with the laws and provide employees with much-needed rest and a chance to participate in religious or state holidays. This leads to their overall well-being and job satisfaction. 

Key Elements of Holiday Leave

Public Holidays

Public holidays are national or regional holidays recognized by the government and specified by law. These holidays generally include major events such as New Year’s Day, Independence Day, and Christmas. Public holidays are common across most businesses and organizations, providing consistency in holiday leave.

Company Policy

Companies establish a specific holiday time-off policy clarifying which public and company-recognized holidays are observed and any applicable work requirements. These policies may also provide further guidance, including:

• Regular holiday pay.
• Whether there is a premium pay or bonus for working on holidays, such as 150% or double the regular rate.
• Defining scheduling practices for employees who are working on a holiday.
• Eligibility criteria.
• Make clear all obligations related to collective agreements (such as CBA or CLA) and service-level agreements (SLA). 
• Applicable rules for salaried vs. hourly employees; full-time vs. part-time employees. If present also temporary employees, contractors, etc. 
• Alternative arrangements (like compensatory time-off) if available. 
• A complete list of all public and company-recognized holidays along with the specifics of whether they are moved if they happen to fall on non-workdays (Saturday or Sunday) or during an employee’s vacation or paid sick leave. 
• A specific list of holidays for all countries within multinational organizations (especially those required by law).

The main rules should also be summarized in the employee handbook.

Holiday Pay

Holiday pay is the rate of pay employees receive for holiday leave, typically equivalent to their regular rate of pay. Employees must not lose their regular income while taking time off for recognized holidays.

Read more: 

A Beginner’s Guide To Holiday Pay

How is Holiday Premium Pay Different Than Overtime?

Working on a Public Holiday

Company policies should clearly outline situations and procedures where employees are required to work on holidays, such as during busy seasons, or in essential services. Holiday PTO policies outline guidelines for employees whose nature of their jobs demands presence in such scenarios, including additional pay or compensatory time off (aka time off with pay in lieu) for those who work on holidays. Also, the required notice period for employees if they are expected to work on a holiday. 

To give an example, an employee who works on holidays might receive double pay or an additional day off to compensate for his/her/their work during a recognized holiday.

Special Types of Holiday Leave

Floating Holidays

Floating holidays are flexible holidays that allow employees to take time off at their discretion, often in addition to the list of standard holidays. These holidays provide additional flexibility for employees to observe personal or cultural holidays important to them, which are not included in the company’s official holiday list. This may also include events and personal reasons such as family celebrations or birthdays.

For instance_,_ employees might receive two floating holidays per year to use at their discretion, allowing them to take time off for personal significant dates or cultural observances.

Read more: What Is a Floating Holiday?

Company-Recognized Holidays

In addition to public holidays, companies may recognize additional holidays specific to their organization. These holidays may not be public holidays but are included in the company’s holiday schedule to honor significant dates for the organization. A company might observe a company-wide holiday for the founder’s day, celebrating the establishment of the business and its achievements.

An Observance

An observance is a day when people choose to honor or celebrate some important event, but they don’t get paid or unpaid leave from work. These types of holidays are not on the list of official public holidays celebrated in certain countries; therefore, there is no legal obligation for employers to provide time off. It could be any important event to an employee, his family, or his ethnic or religious group. Mostly, these types of holidays are religious, a remembrance of certain events in history, or to bring attention to a good cause or important issue. Some examples include Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Earth Day, Halloween, etc.