Will We Be Adding A New Public Holiday to the Spring Calendar?

It is 12 months since Aengus Ó Snodaigh introduced a Bill to make the 24^th April of each year a new Public Holiday called ‘Lá na Poblachta’. The purpose of this proposal is an effort to increase awareness and public celebration surrounding the 1916 Easter Rising. Greater Awareness Taoiseach Enda Kenny has previously highlighted his wish that there should be greater celebration surrounding this time and this Bill proposes a Committee established, Bord Lá na Poblachta, to oversee the celebrations and raise public awareness. 24^th April The Bill looks to enact the Public Holidays (Lá Na Poblachta) Act 2013, which will add the 24^th April to our current list of Public Holidays, as well as establishing a body to coordinate the celebrations on the day. The legislation, if passed, would have the effect of increasing Ireland’s Public Holidays from nine to ten each year, with the EU average being eleven public holidays per year. This may be of some concern to employers who would be faced with four public holidays (St. Patrick’s Day, Easter Monday, Lá Na Poblachta and the first Monday in May) within a 6 week period. It may be of particular concern to those employers who also allow a paid day off on Good Friday. Additional Provisions A unique feature of Lá Na Poblachta, if it comes into being, would be that whenever the 24^th April falls on a weekend, the holiday will transfer to the following Monday. This distinguishes it from other Public Holidays which do not transfer in this way. The Bill also makes provision for what will happen when the Public Holiday falls over Easter. When it falls on Easter Saturday or Sunday the preceding Friday (Good Friday), which is currently not a Public Holiday in Ireland, will be treated as the Public Holiday, as the following Monday will already be a Public Holiday (Easter Monday). Potential Difficulties There are currently no objections to the Bill although it is still at a very early stage. There are some critics who have highlighted the difficulties in choosing an historical date to mark Irish independence due to the fact that Ireland’s gradual transition from British colony to an independent State took many incremental steps, each of which took place on a different date – and some of which went without international recognition. How do I Calculate the 2014 April/May Public Holidays? It is important to note that there are two public holidays that fall within the next five weeks: Easter Monday and the first Monday in May. As a general overview, the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 requires employers to provide one of the following options in lieu of a public holiday: (1)   A paid day off within a month of the public holiday (2)   An additional day of annual leave (3)   An additional day's pay (4)   The nearest church holiday to the public holiday as a paid day off. Most employers normally opt for either (3) or (4) above; an additional day’s pay if the employee works or a paid day off if they don’t work. These calculations can differ from employee to employee and the most important consideration for every employee is whether or not they have worked or normally work on the day the public holiday falls. The below rules apply irrespective of whether the employee is full-time, part-time or fixed-term. What Happens if the Public Holiday Falls on a Day that the Employee Works or is Normally Rostered to Work? If the public holiday falls on a day the employee works or is normally rostered to work then the employee is entitled to be paid “the equivalent of the hours they worked on the last working day before the holiday”. To simplify this, this calculation applies to an employee who either (a) works on the public holiday, or (b) would have worked that day had it not been a public holiday. If the employee falls into this category then the calculation is simple: what hours did they work on their last normal working day before the public holiday? This figure will be what the employee is entitled to for the public holiday. Let’s look at May Public Holiday as an example:

• The public holiday falls on Monday 05 May and this is a day the employee normally works.
• Their last working day before this public holiday was Friday 02 May on which they worked 7 hours.
• Thus, the employee’s public holiday entitlement for the May Public Holiday is 7 hours pay.

This calculation is usually fairly set in stone for set hourly full-time employees as they would normally work the same hours every day. However, if the employee is part-time or variable hour particularly then the public holiday entitlement may vary from one public holiday to the next so ensure to take advice if you are uncertain. What Happens if the Public Holiday Falls on a Day that the Employee Does Not Work and it is a Day that the Employee Would Not Normally Work? If the employee doesn’t work on the public holiday itself and it is a day that they don’t normally work then they are entitled to be paid the equivalent of “one-fifth of their last working week”. To simplify this, this calculation applies to an employee who (a) did not work on the public holiday, and (b) does not normally work on the day the public holiday falls. If the employee falls into this category then the calculation is simple: they are entitled to one-fifth of the total hours they worked in their last normal working week before the public holiday. Let’s look at Easter Monday as an example:

• The Public Holiday falls on Monday 21 April and the employee doesn’t work on the holiday and they don’t normally work Mondays.
• The employee worked 18 hours over the previous week, running from 14 April to 20 April.
• Thus, the employee would be entitled to one-fifth of 18 hours for the Easter public holiday.
• This equals (1/5 of 18 hours) = 3.6 hours. Similarly, if they worked for 40 hours over that week then it would be (1/5 of 40 hours) = 8 hours.

Again, this calculation is usually fairly set in stone for set hourly full-time employees. However, if the employee is part-time or variable hour then the public holiday entitlement will likely vary from one public holiday to the next so ensure to take advice if you are uncertain. Conclusion It is worth pointing out that the proposal is only at Bill stage and is highly unlikely to be passed in time for the holiday to apply this year. It may well be the case that it might not be passed until 2016 in time for the Centenary celebrations of the 1916 rising. Should you have any queries or concerns in relation to Public Holidays please don’t hesitate to contact our 24 hour advice service on 01 855 5050