Entitlement to be absent from employment on public holiday
Employee entitled to be absent on public holiday (1) An employee is entitled to be absent from his or her employment on a day or part‑day that is a public holiday in the place where the employee is based for work purposes. Reasonable requests to work on public holidays (2) However, an employer may request an employee to work on a public holiday if the request is reasonable. (3) If an employer requests an employee to work on a public holiday, the employee may refuse the request if: (a) the request is not reasonable; or (b) the refusal is reasonable. (4) In determining whether a request, or a refusal of a request, to work on a public holiday is reasonable, the following must be taken into account: (a) the nature of the employer’s workplace or enterprise (including its operational requirements), and the nature of the work performed by the employee; (b) the employee’s personal circumstances, including family responsibilities; (c) whether the employee could reasonably expect that the employer might request work on the public holiday; (d) whether the employee is entitled to receive overtime payments, penalty rates or other compensation for, or a level of remuneration that reflects an expectation of, work on the public holiday; (e) the type of employment of the employee (for example, whether full‑time, part‑time, casual or shiftwork); (f) the amount of notice in advance of the public holiday given by the employer when making the request; (g) in relation to the refusal of a request—the amount of notice in advance of the public holiday given by the employee when refusing the request; (h) any other relevant matter.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 17 May 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au. Verify the current text against the official source before relying on it.
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