Public Holiday Pay: Casuals Get 225-250% — Are You Getting Ripped Off? (2026)

If you're a full-time or part-time employee and a public holiday falls on a day you would normally work, you're entitled to be absent from work and still receive your ordinary pay for that day. You do not have to make up the hours. If the public holiday falls on a day you don't normally work, you get no additional payment — it doesn't affect your pay at all.

If you DO work on the public holiday (by agreement with your employer), you receive penalty rates on top of (or instead of) the paid day off, depending on your award. Most awards pay 200-250% of base rate for working on a public holiday, and some also provide a substitute day off.

Casual employees do NOT receive a paid day off for public holidays. If the business is closed on a public holiday and you don't work, you simply don't get paid for that day. This is one of the trade-offs of casual employment — the 25% casual loading compensates for the lack of paid leave entitlements, including public holiday pay.

However, if you DO work on a public holiday as a casual, you receive penalty rates — and these are typically higher than the base rate. In many awards, casual public holiday rates stack the casual loading on top of the public holiday penalty rate.

So, the penalty rates for working on a public holiday differ by award and employment type. General Retail Industry Award: permanent 225% or 250% (depending on the day), casual 250% or 275%. Hospitality Industry Award: permanent 225%, casual 250%.

Fast Food Industry Award: permanent 225%, casual 250%. Clerks Private Sector Award: permanent 250%, casual 275%.

These are percentages of the base hourly rate. Note that for casuals, the public holiday rate usually already includes the casual loading — you don't get 25% loading on top of the public holiday rate.

Check your specific award for the exact percentages, as they vary significantly.

Your employer can REQUEST that you work on a public holiday, but they can't REQUIRE it. You can refuse to work on a public holiday if the refusal is 'reasonable.' Factors that determine reasonableness include: the nature of your workplace (is it a business that normally operates on public holidays?), your personal circumstances (family commitments, religious observance), whether you were given reasonable notice, your employment type (casuals with irregular hours may have different expectations), and the amount of compensation offered. If you're a casual employee, you can generally refuse a public holiday shift without penalty.

For permanent employees, reasonableness is assessed case-by-case.

Australia has 8 national public holidays (New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Queen's Birthday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day), but states and territories add their own. Victoria has Melbourne Cup Day (metro only) and AFL Grand Final Friday. ACT has Canberra Day, Reconciliation Day, and Family & Community Day.

Queensland has the Royal Queensland Show (Brisbane only). South Australia has Proclamation Day.

Tasmania has Recreation Day (north only). The total number of public holidays ranges from about 11 to 13 depending on your state and location. Check your state government's website for the current year's public holiday calendar.