Public holidays sit in an awkward spot in Australian workplaces. Some people get a paid day off, some get penalty rates for working, and some get neither and are not sure why. The answer usually comes down to your employment type and the award or agreement that covers you.
The two questions that decide your public holiday pay
Almost every public holiday pay question resolves into two separate issues. First: were you rostered or required to work? Second: what does your award say about the rate for holiday work? These are independent, and mixing them up is where most confusion starts.
If you did not work, the question is whether you were entitled to be paid for the day anyway. If you did work, the question is what multiplier applies to those hours.
If you did not work the public holiday
Full-time and part-time employees are generally entitled to be paid their base rate for ordinary hours they would normally have worked on that day. The key phrase is “would normally have worked” — if the holiday falls on a day you were never rostered for, there is usually nothing extra to pay.
Casual employees typically do not receive paid public holidays they do not work. That is part of the trade-off the casual loading is meant to compensate for.
If you did work the public holiday
Working a public holiday commonly attracts a penalty rate. Double time is a frequent figure across Australian awards, and some awards use double time and a half. Others provide an alternative such as a substitute day off or an additional day of annual leave instead of a higher rate.
As with overtime, the exact multiplier is award-specific. Retail, hospitality and health awards do not all land on the same number. Our public holiday pay calculator lets you plug in your hourly rate and the multiplier that applies to you to see the estimate.
Can you refuse to work a public holiday?
Under the National Employment Standards, an employee can generally refuse a request to work on a public holiday if the request is not reasonable, or if the refusal is reasonable. What counts as reasonable takes into account things like the nature of the workplace, how much notice was given, the employee’s personal circumstances including family responsibilities, and whether the employee could reasonably expect holiday work in that role.
In practice, this means a hospital or a hotel can more readily expect public holiday work than an office that closes over the break. It is a balancing test rather than an absolute right on either side.
Which days count
There is a set of national public holidays, and then each state and territory adds its own. That means the answer genuinely differs depending on where you work — and in some states, individual regions have their own show days or local holidays. If a holiday falls on a weekend, some jurisdictions substitute the following Monday, which can change what you are owed.
Checking your payslip
- Look for a separate line item showing public holiday hours at the higher rate.
- Confirm the multiplier matches your award, not just what a colleague told you.
- If you did not work, check you were still paid for the ordinary hours you would have worked.
- Note whether your workplace uses substitute days off instead of penalty rates.
If something looks wrong, raise it early. Payroll systems handle public holidays badly more often than people expect, particularly when a holiday is substituted or when someone works a partial shift. Our guide on reading your payslip goes through what should appear.
This article is general information about Australian pay rules and is not legal, financial or industrial-relations advice. Award entitlements vary. Check your specific award or agreement at fairwork.gov.au or contact the Fair Work Ombudsman.