If you work on any public holiday, you should be paid at least time and a half for the time you actually work and get another day off in lieu.

You are entitled to the greater of:

- relevant daily pay less any penal rates plus half that amount again (time-and-a-half)

- or relevant daily pay including any penal rates



Is it "Otherwise a working day"?

You are entitled to a paid day off on a public holiday if it would otherwise be a working day for you. The concept of what would otherwise be a working day is important for working out your entitlement regarding public holidays.

Where the working week or roster is constant then it is usually easy to work out if you would normally be working. If your working week is not constant then the rule is that you are entitled to a day off if you worked on the same day of gthe week for at least 3 of the previous 4 weeks. For example, Christmas day is a Friday this year so if you worked all or 3 of the 4 Fridays before Christmas day then you are entitled to a paid day off. If you only worked 1 or 2 of the Fridays then Christmas day isn't "otherwise a working day" for you.


2009 Christmas and New Year holidays

These holidays fall on Fridays and Saturdays this year.

If you normally work on a Friday and/or Saturday but don’t actually work on the public holidaysthen you are entitled to your “relevant daily pay” for them. To calculate relevant daily pay you go to the Department of Labour's website

If you are working on these holidays then you are entitled to at least time-and-a-half of your "relevant daily pay" rate and another day off in lieu.

If you don't normally or actually work on the Saturdays (Boxing Day and January 2nd) but do normally work Mondays then your public holiday is observed on the Monday. This means you either get a paid day off or, if you work, you are entitled to at least time-and-a-half and another day in lieu.



Confused? Here are some examples

The Department of Labour website has some useful examples of entitlements for the 2009 holidays:

If you normally work Monday to Friday

If you normally work Monday to Saturday and are required to work

If you normally work Tuesday to Friday



Shifts that cross over midnight

There are special provisions if your shift starts one day and ends on another day - for example when your shift starts at 5pm on New Years Eve (not a holiday) and ends at 2am on New Years Day ( a holiday). By written agreement with your employer the holiday can be transferred to another day as long as you are due to work on that day.



Let a computer work it out for you

This is a guide only and your employment agreement may have additional provisions for holidays. If you are unsure about your legal entitlement the Department of Labour website has more detailed information and a handy online calculator which makes it fairly simple to work out what pay rate and days-in-lieu you are entitled to.