I recently worked a public holiday, will I be paid for that day?
Yes, if you worked on a public holiday, you get either an additional day of annual leave or an
additional day’s pay.
If you qualify for public holiday benefit, you are entitled to one of the following:
A paid day off on the day of the public holiday
An additional day of annual leave
An additional day’s pay
A paid day off within a month of the public holiday
What if I work part-time?
If you work for your employer for at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the public holiday and it
falls on a day you normally work, you get paid for the day even if you don’t work. If you have to
work that day, you are entitled to an extra day’s pay.
If you don’t normally work on a certain day but it’s a public holiday, you should get one-fifth of your
weekly pay. Again, you must have worked at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the public holiday.
Time spent on annual leave counts as ‘time worked’ when calculating the 40 hours worked in the 5
weeks before the public holiday.
Am I entitled to a day off on Good Friday?
Good Friday is not a public holiday. While some schools and businesses close on that day, you do not
have an automatic entitlement to a day off.
How can I find out what my entitlements are?
There are 10 public holidays in Ireland each year. You can find the full list of dates on citizensinformation.ie.
Read more about public holidays and your employment rights on https://bit.ly/PublicHolidaysIreland, or call us on 0818 07 4000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm).
Know Your Rights has been compiled by South Connacht Citizens Information Service CLG, which provides a free and confidential service to the public. Tel: 0818 07 6330 Address: Boyle CIC, Elphin Street, Boyle, Co. Roscommon.
