Public Holiday- Entitlements – An Employers Guide
A common request I receive from businesses, is to provide clarity on Public Holiday Entitlement in ROI.
The calculation and management of Public Holidays can often prove to be tricky for employers and below sets out some guidance on how to manage.
Provisions for Public Holidays are set out under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 legislation.
Republic of Ireland now have 10 public holidays annually (with the recent introduction of St. Bridget’s day) and employees, whether full-time or part-time, are entitled to a benefit for each public holiday. NB – Good Friday is a normal working day in Republic of Ireland and not a Public Holiday.
Normally the type of benefit is at the employer’s discretion and is often provided for in employee contracts or handbooks. This can be one of the following;
Paid day off: A day off work with full pay on the public holiday
Substitute day off: A paid day off within a month of the public holiday itself
Additional annual leave: An extra day added to the employee’s annual leave allowance.
Extra day’s pay: An additional day’s pay
Full-time employees have an immediate right to the public holiday benefit from their first day of employment. Part-time employees qualify only if they have worked a minimum of 40 hours in the 5 weeks preceding the public holiday.
If your business typically operates on a what falls as a public holiday as a normal trading day, then employees who work this day are entitled to be paid for this day at their normal rate and in addition to this are entitled to their Public Holiday benefit. This can depend on the employees’ working hours, whether full time or part time, but usually calculated as a 1/5 of their normal working week.
If your business closes on a public holiday on which a full-time employee would normally work, the employee is entitled to their regular day’s pay.
If a public holiday falls on a weekend day, for example Christmas Day or St. Stephens day, the substitute day off can be taken on another date.
Public Holidays and Protected Leave.
Employees on leave for various reasons (Maternity Leave, Adoptive Leave, Parental Leave, Domestic Violence Leave) retain their public holiday entitlement for the leave duration.
Public holidays during Paternity Leave or Parent’s Leave are added to the leave period.
Employees on Carer’s Leave receive the benefit for Public Holidays within the first thirteen weeks of their temporary lay-off.
However, employees on sick leave exceeding 26 consecutive weeks (or 52 weeks for occupational accidents) forfeit their public holiday benefit if absent immediately before the Public Holiday.
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