CURRENT LEGAL ARTICLES

 

There are 10 public holidays in Ireland each year (increased from 9 in 2022).

Public holidays may commemorate a particular day or event, for example, Saint Patrick’s Day (17 March) or Christmas Day (25 December).

In 2022, an extra once-off public holiday took place on Friday, 18 March.

From 2023, there will be a new annual public holiday in early February to mark St Brigid’s Day. The public holiday will be the first Monday in February, except where St Brigid’s day (1 February) happens to fall on a Friday, in which that Friday 1 February will be a public holiday.

Most businesses and schools close on a public holiday, sometimes called a bank holiday. Other services (for example, public transport) still operate but often have restricted schedules.

Public holidays are:

• New Year’s Day (1 January)
• First Monday in February, or 1 February if the date falls on a Friday (from 2023 onwards)
• Saint Patrick’s Day (17 March)
• Extra public holiday (18 March in 2022 only)
• Easter Monday
• First Monday in May
• First Monday in June
• First Monday in August
• Last Monday in October
• Christmas Day (25 December)
• Saint Stephen’s Day (26 December)

1 August 7 August 31 October 30 October 25 December 26 December 26 December

Easter Monday is the only public holiday that can vary significantly from year to year. The date of Easter moves every year.

Easter should be the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after 21 March. This means the earliest possible date for Easter Sunday in any year is 22 March, and the latest is 25 April.

Easter Monday falls on 10 April 2023.

Most employees are entitled to paid leave on public holidays. There is an exception for certain part-time employees – read about ‘Part-time employees’ below.

If you qualify for public holiday benefit, you are entitled to one of the following:

• A paid day off on 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

You can ask your employer at least 21 days before a public holiday which alternatives will apply. If your employer does not respond at least 14 days before the public holiday, you are entitled to take the actual public holiday as a paid day off.

Your public holiday entitlements are set out in the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. You can also read about the appropriate rate of daily pay in the Organisation of Working Time (Determination of Pay For Holidays) Regulations (SI 475/1997).

You are entitled to a day’s pay for the public holiday if you meet both these conditions:

• You have worked for your employer at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the public holiday
• The public holiday falls on a day you usually work

You can count time spent on annual leave as ‘time worked’ when calculating the 40 hours worked in the 5 weeks before the public holiday.

You are entitled to an additional day’s pay if you are required to work that day.

You should get one-fifth of your weekly pay if you do not usually work on that particular day. Even if you are never rostered to work on a public holiday, you are entitled to one-fifth of your weekly pay as compensation for the public holiday.

Suppose the public holiday falls on a day not a typical working day for that business (for example, on Saturday or Sunday). In that case, you are still entitled to benefit from that public holiday. However, you do not have any automatic legal entitlement to have the next working day off work.

Read more about public holidays and employment rights on the Workplace Relations Commission website.

If you are on sick leave during a public holiday, you are entitled to benefit from the missed holiday. Your employer can also choose to regard you as not on sick leave on the public holiday and pay you as usual for the public holiday. If this is the case, the public holiday is not counted as a sick leave day.

If you are on sick leave during a public holiday, you are entitled to benefit from the public holiday once you worked for your employer for at least 40 hours in the previous five-week period – see ‘Part-time employees’ above.

You are not entitled to pay or time off for the public holiday if you are on sick leave immediately before the public holiday, and either of the following applies:

• You have been off work for more than 26 weeks due to an ordinary illness or an accident
• You have been off work for more than 52 weeks due to an occupational accident

You are entitled to leave for any public holidays while on maternity, parental, paternity, adoptive, parental leave, paternity leave,  or parent’s leave.

However, you are not entitled to public holiday benefits if you were absent from work immediately before the public holiday and your absence is:

• Over 13 weeks, due to lay off or some other reason and authorised by your employer
• Due to a strike
• After the first 13 weeks of the carer’s leave

These rights are set down in the Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and 2004, the Parental Leave Acts 1998 – 2019, the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016, the Adoptive Leave Acts 1995 and 2005, and the Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019, respectively.

During layoff or short-time work, you are still employed by your employer, and your employment contract remains in force. You are entitled to benefit from public holidays during the first 13 weeks of layoff.

Part-time employees must have worked at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the public holiday.

Suppose your employment finishes during the week, ending on the day before a public holiday, and you have worked for your employer for the previous 4 weeks. In that case, you should get an additional day’s pay for the public holiday. This also applies to part-time employees who have worked at least 40 hours in the previous 5 weeks.

For example:

In the case of Gazboro Ltd. -v- BATU (DWT9916), the claimants finished their employment on 18 December 1998. They claimed an entitlement to be paid for the public holidays on 25 and 26 December.

As the Court interpreted the wording of Section 23(2)(a) of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, the week ending at midnight on 24 December began at midnight on 18 December. Since the claimants worked for the employer during the 4 weeks before that week, they were entitled to an additional day’s pay for 25 December.

The week ending on 25 December began at midnight on 19 December. Since the claimants ceased to be employed on 18 December, they had no entitlement to be paid for 26 December.