Public holidays and religious days
It is really important that you are fully across the relevant entitlements for your staff around public holidays and are prepared to answer any questions they may have.
The most common questions we normally receive around public holidays are:
What do I pay my staff who are not working a public holiday?
Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), an employee is entitled to be absent from his or her employment on a day or part-day that is a public holiday. If the public holiday falls on a day a full-time or part-time employee has normal ordinary hours of work, they are entitled to be paid their base rate of pay for the ordinary hours they would have worked had it not been a public holiday. Casual employees who are not rostered to work on a public holiday do not receive payment for this day.
What happens when a public holiday falls on a day a staff member would normally work but they are already on annual leave?
Public holidays are a separate entitlement to any other type of leave. If an employee is on a period of sick or annual leave and a public holiday occurs during this period of time, the employee should be paid for the day of the public holiday instead of reducing the accrued sick or annual leave balance of the employee.
If an employee is rostered to work on a public holiday, do I have to pay the employee a higher rate?
The answer is yes, the Modern Awards stipulates that a higher rate of pay be paid to nurses, heath professionals and support staff on a public holiday. The Nurses Award 2020 also outlines situations in entitlements for nurses should the public holiday fall on a rostered day off.
Can an employee refuse to work a public holiday?
You are able to ask an employee to work on public holidays if the request is reasonable. However, an employee has the right to refuse a request to work if they have reasonable grounds such as personal circumstances which includes family responsibilities.
Upcoming public holidays
29 March – Good Friday
31 March – Easter Sunday
1 April – Easter Monday
25 April – Anzac Day | Thursday
6 May – Labour Day | Monday
Religious days
Recognising and embracing diversity in the workplace helps employees feel valued and extends to recognising they may wish to celebrate culturally important or religious days throughout the year. Examples include:
- NAIDOC Week
- Lunar New Year
- Diwali
- Ramadan
There are many religious and cultural holidays observed in Australia that are not recognised public holidays, which means that employees may wish to take time off work to celebrate these holidays. You can support the needs of employees observing these days by:
- agreeing with employees to use leave entitlements to take time off work
- acknowledging or celebrating these holidays in the workplace to promote awareness and inclusion.
- agreeing to a change in working arrangements, such as a change to hours, patterns or locations of work to accommodate the holiday.
Just remember, it is illegal for employers to discriminate against employees because of their religion or national extraction. To avoid legal issues, it is a good idea for employers to agree to employees taking time off to celebrate cultural or religious holidays. Please refer to the Fair Work Website for further information on Workplace discrimination.
Upcoming religious days
24 March – Purim (Jewish)
25 March – Holi (Hindu)
10 March-8 April – Ramadan (Islam)
17 April – Ramanavami (Hindu)
22 April -30 April – Pesach/Passover (Jewish)
6 April – Lailat al-Qadr (Islamic)
10 April – Eid al-Fitr (Islamic)
Please give the Workplace Relations Team a call on 07 3872 2264 if you wish any further information regarding public holidays or religious days. Alternatively, you can email us on workplacerelations@amaq.com.au