 | Boxing Day and the day after New Year's Day this year fall on a Saturday. I understand
that in this case, Monday becomes the public holiday. In my business, the staff work on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Do I have to pay them time and a half for the Saturday, the Sunday, the Monday, or all three? |
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First, determine which of the days would be a normal working day for the employee if it were not Christmas. Once determined, the following applies
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If the same staff member usually works on the Saturday, then Saturday is the public holiday. For working the Saturday you pay time and a half, plus allow an alternative holiday. For them, Sunday and Monday are not public holidays.
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If a staff member does not normally work on a Saturday, then for them Monday is the public holiday. If the employee works on the Monday you must pay time and a half and allow an alternative holiday.
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Note that for the 2009/2010 Christmas New Year the Sunday cannot be a public holiday.
This is covered by Section 45 which covers the handling of the four public holidays at Christmas and New
Year.
Section 45
Transfer of public holidays over Christmas and New Year
(1) For the purposes of this subpart, if any of the public holidays listed in section 44(1)(a) to (d) (christmas and new year)
(a) falls on a Saturday and the day would otherwise be a working day for the employee, the public holiday must be treated as falling on that day:
(b) falls on a Saturday and the day would not otherwise be a working day
for the employee, the public holiday must be treated as falling on the following Monday:
(c) falls on a Sunday and the day would otherwise be a working day for the employee, the public holiday must be treated as falling on that day:
(d) falls on a Sunday and the day would not otherwise be a working day for the employee, the public holiday must be treated as falling on the following Tuesday.
(2) To avoid doubt, this section does not entitle an employee to more than 4 public holidays for the days listed in section 44(1)(a) to (d) (christmas and new year).
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What this section effectively says is
- If the Christmas or New Year holidays fall on a Saturday or Sunday, and the employee normally works on a Saturday or Sunday, then the Saturday or Sunday are public holidays.
- If an employee does not usually work on the Saturday or Sunday, then the public holidays are the following Monday or Tuesday.
The old Section 9 of the Holidays Act 1981, which the new
Section 45 has replaced, effectively meant that in the circumstances you describe, the Saturday and Sunday would never be public holidays, and the Monday and Tuesday always were.
Whilst this was fine in the old 40 hour five days a week business environment, it had some unusual side effects in today's 24/7 society. If an employee usually worked Saturday and Sunday, and never worked Monday and Tuesday, under the old
Act, the employee would have to work Christmas and Boxing day, receive no additional pay, and not be entitled to the Monday and Tuesday as public holidays.
It is this scenario that the new
Section 45 has endeavoured to correct. | |
52 week history not required
Holiday pay entitlements
Holidays Act 2003