Public holiday pay is two separate rights that people routinely merge into one. The first is the right to be away and still be paid, which comes from the Fair Work Act and applies whether or not your employer likes it. The second is the penalty rate you get for actually working the day, which comes from your award and varies far more than most people expect. This guide separates the two, then gives the real rate for all 33 awards on this site. If you want the dollar figure rather than the rule, the public holiday pay calculator does the arithmetic.
Key takeaways
- If you would normally have worked, you are paid your base rate for your ordinary hours for the day off. No penalty, no loading, no overtime.
- If you had no ordinary hours on that day, the Act pays you nothing. That is the rule that catches casuals and part-timers.
- Working the day pays a penalty set by your award, not by the Act. 25 of 33 awards pay 250%, five pay 225%, two pay 200%, and one pays no penalty at all.
- Your entitlement follows the place you are based for work, not where your employer's head office is.
- A public holiday inside a period of annual leave is not annual leave, so it does not come off your balance.
The two separate rights
Section 114(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 gives every national system employee the right to be absent from work on a day that is a public holiday. That is a right to be away, and it is not conditional on your employer agreeing.
Section 116 is the payment rule, and it is narrower than the right to be absent. Where an employee is absent on a public holiday, the employer must pay them at the employee's base rate of pay for the employee's ordinary hours of work on that day. Base rate is the important phrase: it excludes overtime, penalties, allowances, loadings and bonuses. You are paid as though it were an ordinary day, not as though you had worked a holiday.
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) ss 114 and 116, read from the Act itself at Compilation No. 73 (compilation date 7 July 2026). Section 116 reads: "the employer must pay the employee at the employee's base rate of pay for the employee's ordinary hours of work on the day or part-day."
Public holiday rates across 33 awards
Here is where the common assumption breaks down. There is no single national public holiday penalty rate. The Act sets none at all. Every rate comes from a modern award, and they differ. Across the 33 awards covered on this site, the full-time and part-time public holiday rate distributes like this:
| Rate (% of base) | What that is called | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| 250% | Double time and a half | 25 |
| 225% | Double time and a quarter | 5 |
| 200% | Double time | 2 |
| 100% | No public holiday penalty | 1 |
The eight awards that are not on 250% matter more than the count suggests, because five of them are the awards covering retail, food and hospitality, which is where a very large share of public holiday shifts are actually worked:
| Rate | Award | Code |
|---|---|---|
| 225% | Fast Food | MA000003 |
| 225% | Hospitality | MA000009 |
| 225% | General Retail | MA000004 |
| 225% | Restaurant | MA000119 |
| 225% | Pharmacy | MA000012 |
| 200% | Nurses | MA000034 |
| 200% | Real Estate | MA000106 |
| 100% | Teachers | MA000077 |
Every one of these figures is held per award on this site. Open your own award from the modern awards index to see its public holiday rate alongside its weekend and shift penalties, or read the modern awards guide if you are not sure which award covers you.
What you get if you do not work
You are paid your base rate for the ordinary hours you would have worked. A full-timer rostered 7.6 hours that day is paid 7.6 hours at base. Someone rostered 4 hours is paid 4 hours at base. You are not paid for hours you were never going to work, and you are not paid a penalty for a day you did not work.
The catch sits in the Note to section 116, and it is the single most misunderstood sentence in this area:
"If the employee does not have ordinary hours of work on the public holiday, the employee is not entitled to payment under this section. For example, the employee is not entitled to payment if the employee is a casual employee who is not rostered on for the public holiday, or is a part-time employee whose part-time hours do not include the day of the week on which the public holiday occurs."
So a part-timer who never works Mondays gets nothing for a Monday public holiday, and that is correct rather than an underpayment. A casual who is not rostered gets nothing. We cover the casual position in detail in public holiday pay for casual employees.
What you get if you do work
If you work the day, your award penalty replaces the ordinary rate for those hours. On a 250% award, eight hours at a $30 base becomes $600 rather than $240. On a 225% award the same shift is $540. On the Teachers Award there is no public holiday penalty at all, because the award deals with the year as an annualised salary instead.
You do not get both the section 116 payment and the penalty rate. Section 116 pays you for being absent; the penalty pays you for attending. Run your own numbers through the penalty rates calculator, which holds each award's Saturday, Sunday, public holiday and shift figures.
Part-day public holidays
South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory declare part-day public holidays on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, typically starting at 6pm or 7pm. Section 116 explicitly contemplates a "day or part-day", so the entitlement applies to the holiday portion only.
The practical effect is that the day is still a working day. Hours before the cutover are ordinary hours at ordinary rates; hours after it attract the public holiday treatment. That is also why the annual leave planner never counts a part-day holiday as a day off: it cannot bridge a break.
Which state's holidays apply to you
Section 114(1) fixes the entitlement by reference to "the place where the employee is based for work purposes". It is where you are based, not where the company is registered and not where the payroll is run. Someone based in Brisbane working for a Sydney company gets Queensland public holidays.
Section 115(1)(a) fixes eight national days: New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, the Sovereign's birthday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Section 115(1)(b) then picks up whatever else a state or territory declares, which is where the state-by-state differences come from. Your state's full list is on the public holidays hub.
Common questions
Does a public holiday during my annual leave use up a leave day?
No. Section 89(1) says that if a period of paid annual leave includes a public holiday, you are taken not to be on annual leave that day. It is not deducted from your balance and you are paid for it under section 116. This is why booking leave across a week containing a public holiday costs fewer days than an ordinary week.
Can my employer make me work a public holiday?
They can request it, and the request must be reasonable. You may refuse if the request is unreasonable or your refusal is reasonable. Section 114(4) sets out eight mandatory factors, including your family responsibilities, the nature of the workplace, how much notice you were given, and whether you receive penalty rates that reflect an expectation of working holidays. It is a balancing test, not a yes or no.
Am I paid a penalty for a public holiday I did not work?
No. Section 116 pays base rate for ordinary hours. Penalty rates only apply to hours actually worked.
What if the holiday falls on a weekend?
Most states substitute a weekday. Where they do, section 115(2) makes the substituted day the public holiday, not an extra one. See substitute public holidays.
Author & reviewer
Sarah has spent over a decade advising Australian SMBs on Fair Work, NES compliance, and payroll. Based in Sydney, she has worked across hospitality, retail and professional services.