Public holiday wages: how to plan the cash before the holiday hits

Public holidays are good news for staff and often good news for sales. But for anyone running payroll, they’re a cost that’s easy to underestimate — and, because they close the banking system, they can also shift when money needs to be in the account. A little planning a few weeks out makes them just another line in the budget.

This guide covers the cost side, the timing side and how the two interact, with the dates to watch from now through Easter 2027 — starting with the long weekend that ends on Monday 5 October in four states and territories.

Why do public holidays cost money whether you open or close?

Because the rules work in both directions. The Fair Work Ombudsman starts from the principle that “all employees have a right to be absent from work on a public holiday”, and the Fair Work Act sets out how payment works:

If you…	Permanent staff (full-time, part-time)	Casual staff
Close for the holiday	Generally paid their ordinary hours if they would normally have worked that day	Generally not paid if they don’t work
Open and they work	Paid the public holiday rate set by their award or agreement	Paid the public holiday rate set by their award or agreement
Open but they don’t work	Generally paid their ordinary hours if it’s a normal working day	Not paid

The exact public holiday rates depend on the award or enterprise agreement covering each employee, and many awards set higher public holiday rates than ordinary time. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s pay and wages section and its pay tools are the place to check the numbers for your industry.

The practical upshot: a hospitality business that opens pays more for the same hours; a professional services firm that closes pays for a day with no billable work. Either way, the week’s wage bill goes up relative to what the business earns.

How do you estimate the extra wage cost?

A simple method, done a few weeks ahead:

1. List who’s rostered, or would normally work, on the holiday.
2. For those working: hours × their public holiday rate under their award or agreement.
3. For permanent staff not working: ordinary hours × their base rate.
4. Add super on the relevant earnings.
5. Compare with a normal day to see the true extra cost.

Then set it against what the holiday brings in. For a waterfront café on Australia Day, the takings may justify it easily. For a trades business that loses a working day on a Monday, it’s a straight cost that needs to be covered from the rest of the week.

When does the money need to be in the account?

This is the part people miss. Public holidays close the Reserve Bank’s settlement system when they’re national holidays observed in NSW and Victoria, and banks’ batch payments — including payroll files — follow banking business days. If payday falls on a holiday, or the day after a long weekend, the payroll file may need to be lodged on the last business day before the break.

Your payday	Holiday situation	When the file may need to go
Monday	Monday is a public holiday	The Friday before
Tuesday	Monday is a public holiday	The Friday before, depending on your bank’s cut-off
Friday	Good Friday	The Thursday before
Thursday 24 December 2026	Christmas break follows	Wednesday 23 December, depending on cut-off

Check your own bank’s cut-off times — they vary — and see our page on bank cut-off times for how batch payments work.

If a holiday pay run will leave the account short, send your enquiry now rather than the night before. There’s no credit check when you first enquire.

How does Payday Super interact with public holidays?

Since 1 July 2026, super has to be paid with each pay run. The ATO says contributions are on time if received by the employee’s fund within 7 business days after payday. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays that apply across a whole state or territory aren’t business days for this purpose — “even if you are not in that state or territory”.

One detail catches people out. The 7 business days count from when you pay the employee, not from your usual payday. Bring a pay run forward to the Wednesday before Christmas and the super clock starts on that Wednesday too. For a new employee, or the first contribution to a new fund, the ATO allows 20 business days instead. Our guide to due dates that fall on a weekend covers how the same holidays shift BAS deadlines.

That gives a little more time for super around holidays. It doesn’t give more time for wages, which are due on payday under the employee’s award, agreement or contract. And because super now lands with every pay cycle, a holiday week’s higher wages also means a higher super payment in the same week.

Which holidays should you plan for between now and Easter 2027?

Based on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s 2026 and 2027 lists:

• Monday 5 October 2026: Labour Day in NSW, the ACT and South Australia, and the King’s Birthday in Queensland.
• Tuesday 3 November 2026: Melbourne Cup in Victoria.
• Thursday 24 December 2026, from 7pm to midnight: Christmas Eve part-day holiday in the Northern Territory and South Australia.
• Friday 25 December 2026: Christmas Day, all states and territories.
• Saturday 26 December 2026: Boxing Day, with an additional public holiday on Monday 28 December in every state and territory.
• Thursday 31 December 2026, from 7pm to midnight: New Year’s Eve part-day holiday in the Northern Territory and South Australia.
• Friday 1 January 2027: New Year’s Day.
• Tuesday 26 January 2027: Australia Day, all states and territories — a Tuesday holiday, so many businesses will see staff take the Monday off too.
• Friday 26 March to Monday 29 March 2027: Easter. Good Friday and Easter Monday apply everywhere; check the Saturday and Sunday arrangements for your state on the Fair Work list.

For hospitality and retail in SA and the NT, those two evening part-day holidays can make late shifts noticeably more expensive. For everyone, the Christmas stretch combines higher wage costs with four closed banking days — our Christmas and New Year page sets out the closed days one by one.

Can you swap a public holiday for a different day?

It’s a question more owners are asking, especially in hospitality, retail and trades where a quiet Monday holiday is less useful than a day off later. The answer is sometimes, and only by agreement.

The Fair Work Ombudsman explains that an award or registered agreement may allow an employer and employee to agree to substitute a public holiday for another day. Employees who aren’t covered by an award or agreement can agree to a substitute day under the National Employment Standards. Some awards require agreement with a majority of staff at the workplace rather than one person at a time.

Before you build a roster around a swap:

• Read the substitution clause in the award or agreement that covers each employee. Not all have one, and the conditions differ.
• Get the agreement in writing, with both dates spelled out.
• Set up payroll correctly. Staff who agree to a swap are generally paid as for a normal day on the original holiday, then get the substitute day as the paid holiday. Your software needs to know which day is which.
• Don’t pressure anyone. A swap is an agreement, not a roster instruction.

From a cash point of view, a swap can move the cost of a holiday into a quieter week. It doesn’t make it disappear.

How do you avoid getting public holiday pay wrong?

Underpaying staff is expensive to fix and damaging to trust, so it’s worth a check before each holiday:

• Confirm the award or agreement for each employee, and the public holiday rate it sets.
• Check your payroll software’s settings for holiday pay items, especially if you’ve added new staff or changed awards this year.
• Watch part-day holidays such as the Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve evenings in SA and the NT.
• Keep records of who worked, the hours and the rates applied.
• Use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s tools or a payroll adviser if you’re unsure.

Getting it right first time also avoids back-payments landing in a later, tighter month.

Should you open or close on a public holiday?

It’s a commercial decision, and the numbers usually make it for you. A few questions to answer honestly:

• Do the extra sales cover the extra wages? Use real figures from the same holiday last year if you have them.
• Can you run with a smaller team? Fewer staff on higher rates may be better than a full roster.
• Are staff willing? Requests to work must be reasonable, and employees can refuse on reasonable grounds. Rostering volunteers first tends to go better.
• What do customers expect? Some businesses lose goodwill by closing; others lose nothing.
• What does the holiday do to your supply chain? Suppliers closed for the day may make opening harder.

Illustrative example: the Christmas roster

Illustrative example only; no real business is described.

A café owner in Adelaide plans her Christmas period in early November. She’ll close on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and open on the additional holiday on Monday 28 December, when the beachside foot traffic is strong. Her permanent barista and cook are paid their ordinary hours for the Friday they’d normally work. The Monday roster uses four staff at public holiday rates, and she notes the Christmas Eve evening part-day holiday that applies in South Australia for the one late function she’s booked.

Adding it up, she sees the wage bill for the fortnight rises noticeably while takings over the closed days fall. Her payday is Tuesday 29 December, so the payroll file can go on Tuesday morning — but only if the account is covered after four closed banking days of lower income. She talks to her accountant about a small buffer in early December, rather than finding out on 28 December.

Build the holiday into the budget

Public holidays aren’t a surprise; they’re printed on the calendar a year ahead. The businesses that get caught are the ones that treat them as normal weeks — and with super now leaving the account alongside every pay run, a holiday fortnight takes a bigger bite than it did a year ago.

Staff costs are one of the most common reasons owners talk to us, often late at night after the roster is done and the numbers don’t quite meet. If a holiday week is going to leave you short, sorting it out a week or two ahead is far easier than the night before.

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