Fair Work Act s.114-116

Public Holiday Pay Calculator.

Work out what a public holiday is actually worth to you: the paid day off at your base rate, or the penalty rate if you work it. Set to your state and your 2026 holiday calendar.

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Standard FT week is 38 hours.
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For loading & payout values.
Standard FT is 5. Compressed/4-day weeks change the daily figure.

Here's your entitlement

AU$3,458.00
Total paid public-holiday entitlement across 13 holidays in NSW for 2026.
13
NSW holidays 2026
$266
Base day pay
2.50x
Working penalty
See full calculationFair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s.114
ComponentFormulaValue
Public holidays in 2026NSW13 days
Days worked per weekstandard FT = 55 days
Daily hours38h ÷ 57.60 hrs
Base day pay7.60h × $35.00$266.00
If worked (double-time-and-a-half)base × 2.5$665.00
Working-day ratio (s.116)5/5 capped at 1100%
Yearly paid entitlement13 × base × ratio$3,458.00

NSW 2026 holiday pay

Day off (paid)
$266
Worked (penalty)
$665

ⓘ Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) ss.114-116. Penalty rate for working a public holiday is set by the relevant modern award (typically 200%-250%; 2.5x shown). Under s.116, an employee is paid only for holidays that fall on days they would normally have worked, hence the working-day ratio for non-5-day weeks.

Sarah Reid, CAHRI
Reviewed bySarah Reid, CAHRICert IV Payroll · Sydney based
Verified expert

Disclaimer: This tool does not constitute legal or financial advice. Results may be inaccurate due to changes in legislation or your circumstances. This tool does not constitute legal or financial advice. We do not recommend taking actions based solely on these results. The calculator makes assumptions and results may be inaccurate due to changes in legislation, modern awards, or your personal circumstances. You use this information at your own risk. We can't guarantee to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong. For official guidance, visit Fair Work Ombudsman (fairwork.gov.au). Fair Work Ombudsman.

The two numbers, and which one applies to you

Public holiday pay splits cleanly in two, and almost every dispute comes from mixing them up.

Day off. Ordinary hours you would have worked x base hourly rate. No penalty, no loading. Section 116.

Day worked. Hours worked x base hourly rate x your award penalty rate, typically 2.0 to 2.5. Set by your modern award, not by the NES.

The National Employment Standards give you the day off and the base-rate payment. They say nothing at all about penalty rates. Everything above base rate comes from your modern award or enterprise agreement, which is why two people doing similar work on the same holiday can be paid very differently.

Public holiday penalty rates by award

The rate a full-time or part-time employee receives for each hour worked on a public holiday, as a percentage of base rate. 250% means double time and a half. Casuals generally add the 25% casual loading on top, though the compounding rule varies by award.

AwardCodePublic holiday rateOn $35/hr
Aged CareMA000018250%$87.50
Banking & FinanceMA000019250%$87.50
Building & ConstructionMA000020250%$87.50
Clerks (Private Sector)MA000002250%$87.50
Education SupportMA000076250%$87.50
Electrical ContractingMA000025250%$87.50
Gardening & LandscapingMA000101250%$87.50
Graphic Arts & PrintingMA000026250%$87.50
Hair and BeautyMA000005250%$87.50
JoineryMA000029250%$87.50
Legal ServicesMA000116250%$87.50
ManufacturingMA000010250%$87.50
Medical PractitionersMA000031250%$87.50
MiningMA000011250%$87.50
Registered ClubsMA000058250%$87.50
Road TransportMA000038250%$87.50
SCHADSMA000100250%$87.50
Security ServicesMA000016250%$87.50
Vehicle Repair & RetailMA000089250%$87.50
Waste ManagementMA000043250%$87.50
Fast FoodMA000003225%$78.75
General RetailMA000004225%$78.75
HospitalityMA000009225%$78.75
RestaurantMA000119225%$78.75
NursesMA000034200%$70.00
Professional EmployeesMA000065150%$52.50
TeachersMA000077No penalty$35.00

Rates verified against the official award text on awards.fairwork.gov.au, May 2026. Percentages are of the base hourly rate for full-time and part-time employees. Always confirm the public holiday clause of your own award, because several awards vary the rate by classification or by the hours worked.

Why part-timers get fewer paid holidays

Section 116 pays you for the ordinary hours you would have worked. If the holiday lands on a day you never work, there is nothing to pay and no right to a substitute day. Someone working Monday to Wednesday misses every Thursday and Friday holiday in the calendar, which over a year is a real difference in total pay rather than a rounding issue. The calculator applies that working-day ratio instead of crediting every gazetted holiday.

Public holidays during annual leave

A public holiday inside a period of paid annual leave is not annual leave. Section 89 takes it out of the calculation, so the day is paid under s.116 and your annual leave balance is not debited for it. A fortnight off that contains one public holiday costs nine days of leave, not ten.

Substitute days when a holiday falls on a weekend

Most jurisdictions gazette a substitute weekday so employees are not quietly deprived of a paid day off. The substitute day is the public holiday for Fair Work Act purposes, and the original weekend date is not. Practice is not uniform: NSW, QLD, WA, SA, NT and ACT typically substitute, while VIC and TAS do not always do so for Anzac Day. The Substitute days tab in the calculator lists what your state actually gazetted for 2026.

2026 holiday counts by state

How many gazetted public holidays each state and territory has in 2026, which sets the ceiling on the paid entitlement a full-time employee can receive.

State or territoryPublic holidays 2026Full-time value at $35/hr
New South Wales13$3,458
Victoria14$3,724
Queensland13$3,458
Western Australia13$3,458
South Australia13$3,458
Tasmania9$2,394
Northern Territory13$3,458
Australian Capital Territory15$3,990

Value assumes a 7.6-hour standard day on a five-day week at $35 an hour, and that every holiday falls on a day the employee would have worked. Regional holidays such as show days apply only in their own area and are not included in the statewide count.

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Q & A

Public holiday pay questions.

What people ask before working, or refusing, a public holiday.

How do you calculate public holiday pay?
It depends on whether you work the day. If you do not work, section 116 of the Fair Work Act 2009 pays you your base rate for the ordinary hours you would have worked, with no penalty and no loading. If you do work, your modern award sets a penalty rate, usually between 200% and 250% of your base rate. On $35 an hour over a 7.6-hour day, the paid day off is $266 and the same day worked at 250% is $665.
What is the penalty rate for working a public holiday?
Most modern awards set it at 250% (double time and a half) for full-time and part-time employees. Some retail and hospitality awards set 225%, and the Nurses Award sets 200%. A handful of awards, such as the Teachers Award, provide no public holiday penalty because the work pattern does not contemplate it. Casuals usually add their 25% casual loading on top of the award figure, though the exact compounding rule varies by award.
Do I get paid for a public holiday if I do not normally work that day?
No. Section 116 pays you only for the ordinary hours you would have worked on that day. If the holiday falls on a day you never work, there is nothing to be paid for and no obligation on the employer to substitute another day. This is why part-time employees on a three-day week receive fewer paid holidays a year than a full-time employee, and why the calculator applies a working-day ratio rather than paying every gazetted holiday.
Do casuals get paid for public holidays?
Not for the day off. A casual who does not work a public holiday is paid nothing, because casuals have no ordinary hours the entitlement can attach to. A casual who does work is paid the award public holiday penalty rate, generally with the 25% casual loading applied as well. That is the trade-off the casual loading exists to compensate for.
Can my employer make me work a public holiday?
They can ask, if the request is reasonable, and you can refuse if your refusal is reasonable. Section 114 frames it exactly that way rather than giving either side an absolute right. What counts as reasonable takes in the nature of the workplace, your personal circumstances including family responsibilities, whether you could reasonably expect the request, and whether you are paid a penalty rate for it. Hospitals, hospitality and emergency services sit at one end of that scale, an office at the other.
What happens when a public holiday falls on a weekend?
Most states gazette a substitute weekday, usually the following Monday, so employees still get a paid weekday off. The rules are not uniform: NSW, QLD, WA, SA, NT and ACT typically substitute, while VIC and TAS do not always do so for Anzac Day on a weekend. The substitute day, not the original date, is the public holiday for Fair Work Act purposes. Switch the calculator to the Substitute days tab to see which ones your state gazetted in 2026.
Do public holidays count as annual leave if I am on leave?
No. Section 89 of the Fair Work Act says a public holiday falling inside a period of paid annual leave is not counted as annual leave. You are treated as being absent on the public holiday, paid under s.116, and the day is not deducted from your leave balance. So a two-week holiday that contains a public holiday costs you nine days of accrued leave, not ten.
Is public holiday penalty pay taxed differently?
No. Penalty rates are ordinary income taxed at your marginal rate in the pay period you receive them. There is no concessional treatment. The one thing that catches people out is that a large penalty-heavy pay period can push that single payment into a higher PAYG withholding bracket, which usually washes out at tax time rather than being a real extra cost.
Trust & Methodology

Where these figures come from.

The entitlement to be absent on a public holiday is section 114 of the Fair Work Act 2009, the definition of a public holiday is section 115, and the payment for that absence is section 116, which sets the base rate for the ordinary hours the employee would have worked. Section 89 keeps public holidays out of annual leave. None of these provide a penalty rate.

Penalty rates for working a public holiday are award entitlements, not NES entitlements. The rates in the table were verified against the official modern award text on awards.fairwork.gov.au in May 2026 and are expressed as a percentage of the base hourly rate for full-time and part-time employees. Holiday counts are the gazetted statewide dates for 2026 and exclude regional show days.

Day offBase rate, s.116
Typical worked rate200% to 250%
Source of penaltyModern award
Calendar year2026