Public Holiday Pay in Hospitality: Who Gets Paid What (2026)
When a public holiday lands on a weekend, substituted days and stacked penalty rates can blow out your wage bill. Here's the plain-English breakdown of public holiday pay for your crew.
Disclaimer: Shiftly provides calculation tools based on Australian Modern Awards to help you estimate shift costs. We're not a payroll provider or legal adviser, and we don't verify the accuracy of these calculations. Always confirm rates with Fair Work or your accountant.
Public holidays are the most expensive days on the hospitality calendar, and the most confusing. A holiday that lands on a Saturday, a "substituted" Monday, casuals who may or may not get paid, penalty rates north of 200 percent: it adds up fast, and it adds up wrong if you're guessing.
Here's the no-nonsense version of how public holiday pay works for your crew.
The Saturday vs Monday trap
Say Australia Day falls on a Saturday, and a substituted public holiday is declared for the following Monday. Which day is the public holiday for pay purposes?
- The usual rule: if a substitute day is declared, the Monday becomes the public holiday. The Saturday is treated as an ordinary Saturday (standard weekend penalties), and the Monday attracts the full public holiday rate.
- The "additional day" exception: for some states or holidays (Christmas is the classic one), both the weekend day and the Monday can be declared public holidays. Roster staff on both and you could be paying public holiday rates twice.
The fix is boring but effective: check your state's declared public holidays before you publish the roster, not after payroll flags it.
Who gets paid what
Public holiday entitlements depend on employment type and whether the person actually works. Indicative rates based on the Hospitality (MA000009) and Restaurant (MA000119) awards, so verify the current figures for your team:
| Employee type | Works the holiday | Rostered off / doesn't work |
|---|---|---|
| Casual | Public holiday penalty, typically around 250% of base | Not paid; casuals are paid only for hours worked |
| Full-time / part-time | Public holiday penalty, typically 225% to 250% | Paid base rate if it was a day they'd ordinarily work |
The permanent-staff rule catches people out: if a public holiday falls on a day a full-timer or part-timer would normally work and you send them home, you still owe them their base rate for those ordinary hours. Telling them to stay home doesn't make the cost disappear.
Why the costs blow out
Public holidays stack penalties in a way ordinary days don't. A casual working a public holiday isn't on 125 percent, they're on the public holiday rate. If the shift runs into overtime, that climbs again. Roster three extra people "just in case" on a quiet public holiday and you can turn a slow day into your worst-margin shift of the month.
If you're not looking at the loaded cost of the roster before you publish it, you're flying blind on the exact days you can least afford to.
How to stop the blowout
You don't need a payroll degree. You need visibility before you commit. Shiftly's calculation tools help you:
- Estimate the shift cost up front: built-in tools for the Restaurant, Hospitality, Retail and Clerks awards estimate what a shift will cost before you lock it in.
- See the penalty impact live: the engine estimates expected penalty rates from award data, so that substituted Monday shows up as a number, not a surprise.
- Skip the manual re-entry: once the holiday's done, approved timesheets flow to Xero, so you're not typing loaded hours in by hand.
Frequently asked questions
Do casuals get paid on a public holiday if they don't work?
No. Casual employees are paid only for the hours they actually work. If a casual isn't rostered on the public holiday, there's no public holiday payment. If they do work, they're entitled to the public holiday penalty rate under the award.
What's the public holiday penalty rate in hospitality?
Under the Hospitality and Restaurant awards it's commonly around 250 percent of base for casuals and 225 to 250 percent for full-time and part-time staff, though exact figures depend on the award and classification. Treat these as indicative and confirm the current rate with Fair Work.
If a holiday is moved to a substitute day, which day do I pay penalties on?
Generally the substitute day (often the Monday) becomes the public holiday for pay, and the original weekend day reverts to normal weekend penalties. Some holidays and states declare both days, so always check your state's official public holiday list before rostering.
Can I refuse to open, or ask staff to work a public holiday?
You can request that an employee work a public holiday if the request is reasonable, and they can refuse on reasonable grounds. That's a Fair Work question rather than a rostering one, so check the National Employment Standards or your adviser before you build it into a roster.
The bottom line
Public holidays reward the venues that plan and punish the ones that guess. Check your declared holidays, know who's owed what, and price the roster before you publish it. Shiftly's free rostering and award estimation tools let you see the cost of that public holiday shift while you can still change it. See how award interpretation works, or read our Hospitality Awards explainer.
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