Know the rules when it comes to paying staff for public holidays?
Fairwork says:
‘Employees should be given the choice to work on a public holiday or not.
Employers can request employees to work on a public holiday, but the request has to be reasonable.
Employees (except casual employees) who normally work on the day a public holiday falls will be paid their base pay rate for the ordinary hours they would have worked if they had not been away because of the public holiday.
An employee doesn’t get paid for a public holiday if they don’t normally work on the day that the public holiday falls. Some part-time employees will be entitled to payment, other may not be. Part time staff do not need to work ‘make up’ days.
Working on public holidays – Awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements can provide entitlements for working public holidays’
Public holiday rates vary per award – Clerks (bookkeepers), Joiners and Seafood processors are paid 2.5x standard rate, retail workers and restaurant workers are paid 2.25x standard rate.
More info can be found here: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/public-holidays
