Although Halloween is on October 31st, in the Republic of Ireland it is celebrated as a public holiday on the last Monday in October. It became a public holiday in 1977 and as it falls close to Halloween, it has become known as a Halloween holiday. It is also nearing the end of the calendar year on which many employers base their annual leave calculations for employees, and it may present a good opportunity for employers to encourage employees to take annual leave preceding or proceeding the public holiday to use up excessive accumulated leave entitlements. To assist employers in this endeavour in this article we have provided an easy go-to guide for employers to take the pain out of public holiday calculations. Public Holiday Entitlements 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:

• A paid day off within a month of the public holiday
• An additional day of annual leave
• An additional day's pay
• 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. Importantly, 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 October public holiday. Let’s look at an example:

• The public holiday falls on Monday 27 October and this is a day the employee normally works.
• Their last working day before the public holiday was Friday on which they worked 7 hours.
• Thus, the employee’s public holiday entitlement 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 an example:

• The Public Holiday falls on Monday 27 October 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 20 October to 24 October 2014.
• Thus, the employee would be entitled to one-fifth of 18 hours for the 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. Don’t Fall Into the “Double-Time” Trap!! One key issue that often arises is that employers tend to misinterpret “an additional day’s pay” as meaning “double-time”. While they appear similar they are not the same thing. Let’s look at an example:

• We will take an employee who always works 8 hours a day and who always works Mondays, who is asked to work for just 4 hours on the public holiday, as the employer is shutting the doors early.
• For this full-timer, their entitlement for the public holiday (as we looked at above) would be “an additional day’s pay” of 8 hours. This 8 hours would be added to the 4 hours he actually worked on the holiday meaning a total of 12 hours pay.
• If, however, the employer paid “double-time” (i.e. 4 hours x 2) then the employee would have only gotten 8 hours pay and has therefore been short-changed. The basic rule is don’t use “double-time”; use the calculations provided in the above guidance.

Don’t let Public Holiday calculations stress you out! Even the most seasoned HR Managers find these calculations difficult at times so employers should seek advice from Peninsula Business Services if they have any further queries in relation to Public Holiday pay and entitlement.