“Saturday the 25th of December 2021 is a normal day, hence the public holiday for Christmas Day falls on Monday, the 27th of December, 2021.”
“Sunday the 26th of December 2021 is a normal day and therefore public holiday for Boxing Day falls on Tuesday, the 28th of December, 2021.”
“Saturday the 1st of January 2022 is a normal day, thus the public holiday for New Year’s Day falls on Monday, the 3rd of January, 2022.”
This was clarified by the Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations, Youth and Sports Parveen Kumar Bala given the gazetted dates for the 2021 and 2022 public holidays respectively.
“Any worker who is employed on any of the gazetted public holidays will be entitled to public holiday pay,” said Minister Bala.
“The worker must be at work a day before and after the public holiday and if they are unable to do so then they must provide a valid reason or a medical certificate.”
The Minister highlighted that Section 67 of the Employment Relations Act (ERA) 2007 states that a worker must be paid in respect of each public holiday for the number of hours (exclusive of overtime) which the worker would normally have worked on that day had it not been a public holiday.
“If a worker is employed during these public holidays then the worker is entitled to double pay,” said Minister Bala.
The Minister appealed to all employers who operate during these public holidays to remunerate their workers accordingly.
The Ministry will continue to ensure that workers are paid their rightful dues this holiday season.