Public Holidays

The following information may assist in clarifying employee’s entitlements:

There are nine public holidays in Ireland
New Years Day [1 January], St Patrick’s Day [17th March], Easter Monday, First Monday in May, June and August, Last Monday in October, Christmas Day [25th December] and St Stephen’s Day [26th December]

Note: Good Friday and Christmas Eve are not public holidays.

Employee’s entitlement to public holidays is set out under the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997. Most employees will be entitled to paid leave for the public holiday once they have worked 40 hours in total in the 5 weeks preceding the public holiday [qualifying criteria].

Employees who qualify for a public holiday will be entitled to one of the following:

A paid day off on the public holiday
An additional day of annual leave
An additional day’s pay
A paid day of within a month of the public holiday.

A part time employees who has worked at least 40 hours in the 5 week before the public holiday and the public holiday falls on a day that the employee normally works then then are entitled to a day’s pay for the public holiday. Example: Employee works 20 hours a week, 4 hours a day, Monday to Friday. The public holiday for the last Monday in October [for example], means that the employee is entitled to that day off and to get paid for that day.

If an employee [meets the qualifying criteria] and works for example 4 days, 16 hours a week, Tuesday to Friday each week then as they don’t normally work on a Monday and as the public holiday falls on that day they should receive one fifth of their weekly.

Where an employee may not have a ‘normal’ or ‘weekly’ hours then an average of their day’s pay or a fifth of the employee’s weekly pay is calculated over a 13 week period prior to the public holiday.

In all of the above situations the employer may choose to give the employee paid time off instead of pay for the public holiday. However, in the childcare sector it is more usual to see the employee being paid for the public holiday.

Where an employee is on sick leave and a public holiday falls during the sick leave if they are a full time employee they are entitled to the public holiday once the employee has not been absent for more than 26 weeks. For part time employees on sick leave during a public holiday provided that the employee has worked 40 hours in the previous 5 weeks then they are entitled to the public holiday.

Employees on maternity leave, parental leave or adoptive leave also maintain their entitlement to public holidays that occur during that leave.

Christmas Day – 2016. This year Christmas Day falls on a Sunday. When a public holiday falls on a weekend, the employee does not have an automatic legal entitlement to have the next working day off. However, in this sector as most services are closed it would be usual that Tuesday 27th December will be observed in lieu of the Sunday. However, an employer, if not applying the Tuesday 27th they may provide the employee with one of the following: