Holidays
88.—(1)  Every employee is entitled to a paid holiday at his or her gross rate of pay on a public holiday that falls during the time that he or she is employed, subject to the following:
(a)by agreement between the employer and the employee any other day or days may be substituted for any one or more public holidays;
(b)if any public holiday falls on a rest day, the working day next following that rest day is a paid holiday;
(c)if any public holiday falls on a day when the employee is not required to work under his or her contract of service, the employer may either pay the employee for that holiday at his or her gross rate of pay or give the employee a day off in substitution for that holiday.
[27/2015]
(2)  Despite subsection (1), an employee is not entitled to holiday pay for any public holiday which falls on a day when the employee is on leave of absence without pay granted by the employer at the employee’s request.
[27/2015]
(3)  An employee who absents himself or herself from work on the working day immediately preceding or immediately succeeding a public holiday or any day substituted therefor under subsection (1) without the prior consent of his or her employer or without reasonable excuse is not entitled to any holiday pay for that holiday.
[27/2015]
(4)  Despite subsection (1), any employee may be required by his or her employer to work on any public holiday to which the employee would otherwise be entitled under that subsection and, in such event, the employee must be paid an extra day’s salary at the basic rate of pay for one day’s work in addition to the gross rate of pay for that day and to a travelling allowance, if payable to the employee under the terms of his or her agreement with his or her employer, for one day.
[27/2015]
(4A)  Despite subsections (1) and (4), where any employee (other than an employee to whom Part 4 applies by virtue of section 35(b) or who is a workman mentioned in section 35(a)) is required by his or her employer to work on any public holiday to which the employee would otherwise be entitled under subsection (1), the employee must be paid the gross rate of pay for that day and may be given the following, in lieu of a day off in substitution for that holiday or an extra day’s salary at the basic rate of pay:
(a)part of a day off on a working day comprising such number of hours as may be agreed between the employee and his or her employer;
(b)in the case where there is no such agreement —
(i)part of a day off on a working day comprising 4 hours if the employee worked on that holiday for a period not exceeding 4 hours; or
(ii)a day off on a working day if the employee worked on that holiday for a period of more than 4 hours.
[26/2013; 27/2015; 55/2018]
(5)  An employee is not entitled, by reason of subsection (4), to receive double any housing allowance or food allowance.
(6)  Subsection (4) does not apply to an employee who is employed by the Government or a statutory body in any of the essential services as defined under Part 3 of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act 1955, but —
(a)any such employee may, despite subsection (1), be required by his or her employer to work on a public holiday or part thereof to which the employee would otherwise be entitled under that subsection; and
(b)in any such case, the employee must be given a day or part of a day off (as the case may be) in substitution for the public holiday or part thereof.
[27/2015]
(7)  For the purposes of this section if any public holiday falls on a half working day, the gross or basic rate of pay payable is that of a full working day.
[27/2015]