Public holidays and religious days

We hope you had a wonderful Easter break and are preparing for the following upcoming public holidays.

Friday 25 April – Anzac Day
Monday 5 May – Labour Day | Monday 

It is important you are across the relevant entitlements for your staff around public holidays and prepared to answer any questions employees may have. 

The most common questions Workplace Relations 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 their employment on a public holiday. If the public holiday falls on a day when a full-time or part-time employee would normally 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 from other types of leave. If an employee is on sick or annual leave and a public holiday occurs during this period, the employee should be paid for the public holiday as usual. The accrued leave entitlement they are using (such as annual leave) should not be used for that day, or debited back to them if it was.  

If an employee is rostered to work on a public holiday, do I have to pay the employee a higher rate?
Yes, the Modern Award stipulates that a higher rate of pay be paid to nurses, health professionals and support staff on a public holiday. The Nurses Award 2020 also outlines situations in entitlements for nursers should the public holiday fall on a rostered day off.

Can an employee refuse to work a public holiday?
Employees can ask to work public holidays if the request is reasonable. However, an employee has the right to refuse a request to work if they have reasonable grounds, like personal circumstances including family responsibilities.
Refer to the Rright to Disconnect legislation before asking employees to work or be contacted during a public holiday. This started on 26 August 2024 for most employers and will start on 26 August 2025 for small businesses.  The legislation protects employees who reasonably refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact, or attempted contact outside their working hours. Including on public holidays.
 

Religious days
Recognising and embracing diversity in the workplace helps employees feel valued and extends to recognising that they may wish to celebrate culturally important or religious days throughout the year. Examples include:

• Lunar New Year
• Diwali
• Ramadan

Religious and cultural holidays in Australia are not recognised public holidays meaning 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, promoting 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.
   

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. Refer to the Fair Work website for further information on Workplace discrimination.

Upcoming religious days
29 June – Eid-al-Adha (Islamic)

For a more comprehensive list you can refer to the Interfaith Calendar 2025 and the 2025 Religious Holidays and Festivals.
Interfaith Calendar 2025: Major Religious Holidays, Holy Days
2025 Religious Holidays & Festivals - CalendarZ
 

Please give the Workplace Relations Team a call on 07 3872 2264 for any further information regarding public holidays or religious days. Alternatively, you can email us on workplacerelations@amaq.com.au
 

AMA Queensland Workplace Relations Phone: 07 3872 2264  Email: workplacerelations@amaq.com.au