Quick answer
Boxing Day 2026 falls on Saturday 26 December, and the Fair Work Ombudsman lists Monday 28 December as an additional public holiday for it. With Christmas Day on Friday, that's four days in a row with no normal banking. Staff who work Saturday or Monday may be owed public holiday rates under their award or agreement. Lodge pay runs by Thursday 24 December so wages land on time.
Key points
- Christmas Day is Friday 25 December, Boxing Day is Saturday 26 December and Monday 28 December is an additional public holiday.
- Which of the 26th and the 28th carries holiday rates can depend on your award or enterprise agreement, so check it before you roster.
- Bank batch payments such as payroll files won't process between Friday 25 and Monday 28 December. Reopening is Tuesday 29 December.
- A weekly Friday or Saturday payday needs its pay run done by Thursday 24 December.
- Payday Super still counts business days, and 25 and 28 December drop out of the count.
Most years, Boxing Day is a day off and a Monday to sort out the pay. This year it lands on a Saturday, right behind a Friday Christmas, and the calendar gets odd. There’s a holiday on the weekend, another on Monday, and a banking system that stays shut for four days straight.
This guide works through the dates, the pay question and the cash timing, so you can fix your December pay runs tonight rather than on Christmas Eve.
Which days are public holidays over Christmas 2026?
The Fair Work Ombudsman’s 2026 list shows Christmas Day on Friday 25 December and Boxing Day on Saturday 26 December. It also shows Monday 28 December as an additional public holiday for Boxing Day. New Year’s Day follows on Friday 1 January 2027.
Here’s how that reads on the calendar:
| Date | What it is | Banking |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 24 Dec | Ordinary business day (part-day holiday evening in SA and the NT) | Open, last normal day |
| Fri 25 Dec | Christmas Day | Closed |
| Sat 26 Dec | Boxing Day (Proclamation Day in SA) | Closed |
| Sun 27 Dec | Sunday | Closed |
| Mon 28 Dec | Additional public holiday | Closed |
| Tue 29 Dec | Ordinary business day | Reopens |
| Wed 30 – Thu 31 Dec | Ordinary business days | Open, often short-staffed |
| Fri 1 Jan | New Year’s Day | Closed |
State and territory arrangements aren’t all identical, and free calendar sites contradict each other on the detail. Treat your own state or territory government’s list as the final word, and check it before you publish a roster.
Who gets paid what when Boxing Day is a Saturday?
Start with the principle on Fair Work’s public holidays page: employees have a right to be absent on a public holiday, and what they’re paid depends on whether they work and what their award or agreement says.
The Saturday collision creates three common questions.
Staff who normally work Saturdays. If the 26th is a public holiday where you are, they may be on holiday rates for a Saturday shift. If you close, a permanent employee who would normally have worked that Saturday is generally paid their ordinary hours.
Staff who work Monday 28 December. Same test. If it’s a public holiday for them, working it generally attracts the rate in their award or agreement, and closing generally still means paying permanent staff who would have worked.
Staff who don’t normally work either day. Generally they’re not paid for a public holiday that falls on a day they wouldn’t have worked.
The catch is the middle ground. Some awards and agreements say the holiday moves to the following Monday when Boxing Day falls on a weekend, and others keep both days. That’s why the first job is to read the public holiday clause for each employee group, not to assume. Our general guide to planning public holiday wages covers the method. This page covers only this year’s collision.
If you open across the break, you can also ask staff to work, but the right to refuse a request that isn’t reasonable still applies. Rostering early, in writing and with the rate stated, takes the surprise out of it.
When does the pay run actually have to be done?
Wages are only on time if the money reaches the account. That’s where the four-day closure bites.
Over 25 to 28 December, the RBA’s settlement system is closed (see the RBA’s operating information). Batch payments between banks, including payroll files, wait for a banking business day. The first one after the break is Tuesday 29 December.
Fast payments over the New Payments Platform are different, since they run around the clock. But if you’d have to key in sixteen separate transfers on Christmas night to rescue a late payroll file, you’ll understand why most owners don’t.
| Your usual payday | Do this |
|---|---|
| Friday 25 December | Pay on Thursday 24 December, and lodge the file earlier than your bank’s cut-off |
| Saturday 26 December | Same, by Thursday 24 December |
| Monday 28 December | Pay Thursday 24 December, or Tuesday 29 December if your agreements allow it |
| Tuesday 29 December | Normal, but check your provider isn’t on reduced hours |
| Thursday 31 December | Normal, with the first week of January in mind |
Look up your bank’s payroll-file and batch cut-off times now, because they can fall hours before close of business. Our page on bank cut-off times shows what to ask.
What does the break do to Payday Super?
Under Payday Super, the fund has to receive each contribution within 7 business days after the day you pay, and the ATO says weekends and statewide public holidays don’t count as business days. Friday 25 December and Monday 28 December both drop out of the count, and so does New Year’s Day.
So a pay run paid on Thursday 24 December has its super due by Thursday 7 January 2027. Bring that same pay run forward a week, and it’s due before New Year’s Eve. Our full Payday Super Christmas calendar has the dates for every common payday. The short version for this guide: pay the super in the same session as the wages.
Does it change if you trade through the break?
Yes, mostly on cost. Opening on the 26th and the 28th means two days of holiday rates, and for a business with weekend-heavy rosters that can be a large share of the week’s wage bill. Trading also pushes more card takings into the closed-bank stretch, and those usually arrive after the holiday, not on the day. If you’re open, budget the wages for the days you trade and assume the takings from them won’t be spendable until Tuesday 29 December or later.
If you close, you still carry the ordinary-hours cost for permanent staff, the rent and the repayments, with no sales to cover them. Either way, the cash question is the same: what leaves the account before 29 December, and what’s actually come in by then.
What does the cash look like across the break?
Let’s walk through a made-up example. Illustrative only, not a real business.
A family-run restaurant in regional Victoria pays eleven staff weekly on Fridays. It plans to trade Christmas Eve and Saturday 26 December, and close on Monday 28 December.
At 9pm one Tuesday in November, the owner sketches out December. The Friday 25 December pay run has to go out on Thursday 24 December, so wages leave the account before the busiest Christmas Eve takings have settled. Saturday trade will include holiday rates. Closing on Monday still means paying permanent staff for the day. And when weekend card takings arrive on a Tuesday, Wednesday or later, they’re also covering the 31 December pay run, with super and rent not far behind.
Nothing is wrong with the business. Four days of closed banking have simply pushed three bills into the same week as thin cash. That’s a timing gap, and a timing gap is something you plan around rather than panic about.
What can you do about it tonight?
Here’s a 20-minute routine:
- List every payday from 14 December to 8 January. Include casuals, contractors and any bonuses.
- Mark each one with its real send date. Anything due between Friday 25 and Monday 28 December moves to Thursday 24 December or Tuesday 29 December.
- Find the award or agreement clause for each staff group. Note which day carries holiday rates and whether the holiday moves to Monday.
- Cost the roster. Count the hours worked on the 26th and the 28th at the rate the clause sets (use Fair Work’s tools for the number).
- Line up the incoming cash. Customer payments and card takings on the same dates, as honestly as you can.
- Find the lowest day. If the account dips below zero between 24 December and 8 January, you have a gap to cover.
If you find a gap, don’t wait. Our overview of business finance over Christmas and New Year shows what lenders can and can’t do around the closures, and if payroll is already short tonight, this page covers the next few hours.
Seeing a dip in that list? Start a 60-second enquiry tonight. There’s no credit check when you first enquire.
Setting up a calm Christmas, starting tonight
A Saturday Boxing Day isn’t a crisis. It’s a calendar with a different shape this year: pay earlier, check the award, and expect the money to come back later than usual.
If your sums show a gap, that’s what we’re here for, and it’s far easier to deal with in November than on Christmas Eve. Tell us what your pay runs look like and when your takings return, and a lending specialist will look at whether a buffer, a line of credit or a short facility fits.
Enquiring takes about 60 seconds, and your credit file isn’t touched just for asking. We don’t send your details to a pile of lenders, so your phone stays quiet over the holidays. A real person reads your situation and calls you on a business morning. Please fill the form in accurately, especially your pay dates and the amount, so we can find the right option the first time.
Frequently asked questions
Which day is the Boxing Day public holiday in 2026?
Boxing Day is Saturday 26 December. The Fair Work Ombudsman's 2026 list also shows Monday 28 December as an additional public holiday for Boxing Day. In South Australia the 26th is Proclamation Day. Check your own state or territory's list and your award, because the detail differs by place.
Do I have to pay staff for Monday 28 December if I close?
Where Monday 28 December is a public holiday for your staff, full-time and part-time employees who would normally have worked that day are generally paid their ordinary hours if the business is closed. Casuals generally aren't paid if they don't work. Fair Work's public holiday page explains how this applies.
My staff work Saturdays. Is Saturday 26 December a public holiday for them?
In most places the 26th is itself a public holiday, which means a Saturday worker may be on holiday rates that day. Some awards and agreements move the holiday to the Monday instead. Read the public holiday clause that covers each employee.
Can I pay wages early before Christmas?
Yes, and many employers do. The Payday Super clock starts on the day you pay, so super for early wages comes due earlier too. Send the super with the wages and the shutdown doesn't matter.
When is the last business day to send a pay run before Christmas 2026?
Thursday 24 December is the last normal banking day before the break, and the next one is Tuesday 29 December. Your bank or payroll provider may have an earlier cut-off for batch files, so confirm theirs this month.
Does PayID or Osko work over Boxing Day weekend?
Fast payments over the New Payments Platform run around the clock, including public holidays, but your own bank's limits, holds and checks still apply. Don't rely on one for a large first-time payment late at night.
What if December takings won't cover the wages and super?
Work out the shortfall now, while there's time to choose. A buffer or line of credit arranged in November is much easier than a scramble on Christmas Eve. A specialist can talk through what suits your pattern.