Can working on a public holiday be compensated with time off?

Vladimir Logatšev, lead counselling lawyer at the Labour Inspectorate responds:

For working on a public holiday, the employer must pay the employee double the wages. The employer and the employee may agree that work done on a public holiday is compensated with time off. If the employee is compensated for working on a public holiday with time off, it is done similarly to compensating for overtime work with time off. In other words, the employee is paid their standard wages for working on a public holiday, plus their standard wages for time off.

Law requires that working on a public holiday is compensated with double the rate of the wages, not with time off. Working on a public holiday may be compensated with time off only by agreement with the employee.

If the employee works in a way that requires the employer to pay additional wages (eg for working on a public holiday, at night or overtime), the basic wage is not doubled. This means that the employee is not paid double the wages agreed to in the contract.

For example: The employee works during normal working hours (ie 8 hrs/day Mon–Fri) and their monthly wages are 1,100 euros. In May the employee worked 22 working days, ie 176 hours, and also worked 8 hours on a public holiday, 28 May. The employee’s daily wage is 50 euros (1,100 euros ÷ 22 working days). Therefore, the employee worked 8 hours on a public holiday, which in turn is overtime work.

Possible options:

1. The employee is compensated with money for both the public holiday and overtime work. Compensation for overtime work is 1.5 times the wages and for working on a public holiday 2 times the wages. In this case, the basic wage is included in the calculation only once, ie the employee must be compensated for the 8 hours at a rate of 2.5 times the wages (2 times the wages for working on a public holiday and 0.5 times the wages for overtime work). Therefore, the employee must receive 1,100 euros for standard working hours, plus 2.5 times the wages for overtime work, ie 125 euros (50 euros × 2.5). In this example, the employee’s total wages are 1,225 euros;
2. The employee is compensated for working on a public holiday monetarily, but overtime work is compensated with time off. It should be taken into account that the basic wage is not doubled. Therefore, the employee receives 1,100 euros for standard working hours and 2 times the wages for working on a public holiday (which includes their standard wages for overtime work), ie 100 euros (50 euros × 2). In addition, the employee receives time off for the 8 hours, but remuneration for the time off is already included in the employee’s monthly wages, as the employee has time off at the expense of standard working hours. In this example, the employee’s total wages are 1,200 euros, plus 8 hours of time off;
3. The employee is compensated for working on a public holiday with time off, but overtime work is compensated at a rate of 1.5 times the wages. It should be taken into account that the basic wage is not doubled. In this case, the employee receives 1,100 euros for standard working hours and 1.5 times the wages for working overtime on a public holiday (their standard wages for working on a public holiday and 0.5 times the wages for overtime work), ie 75 euros (50 euros × 1.5). The employee receives no additional remuneration for working on a public holiday, as this is already included in the basic wages. The employee receives 8 hours of time off for working on a public holiday, and the remuneration for it is already included in the employee’s monthly wages. In this example, the employee’s total wages are 1,175 euros, plus 8 hours of time off;

1. The employee is compensated with time off for both the public holiday and overtime work. It should be taken into account that the basic wage is not doubled. In this case, the employee must be paid 1,100 euros for standard working hours, plus their standard wages (50 euros) for working overtime on a public holiday. For overtime work done on a public holiday, the employee must be given 16 hours of time off, ie 8 hours for working on a public holiday and 8 hours for overtime work. The remuneration for time off is included in the employee’s monthly wages. In this example, the employee’s total wages are 1,150 euros, plus 16 hours of time.