Public Holidays over the Christmas/New Year Period 2011/2012

With Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day falling on weekends this year, there is some confusion over which days are public holidays for the purpose of payment for permanent employees not required to work and penalties (where applicable) for employees required to work. To add to the confusion, the public holidays to be observed vary from State to State.

The Public Holidays gazetted for the States and Territories are as follows:

New South Wales
The New South Wales Government has declared the following days to be public holidays:

  • Sunday 25 December 2011 (Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Monday 26 December 2011 (Additional Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Tuesday 27 December 2011 (Substitute Boxing Day Holiday)
  • Sunday 1 January 2012 (New Year’s Day Holiday)
  • Monday 2 January 2012 (Additional New Year’s Day Holiday)

Victoria
The following days are declared to be public holidays:

  • Monday 26 December 2011 (Boxing Day Holiday)
  • Tuesday 27 December 2011 (Substitute Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Sunday 1 January 2012 (New Year’s Day Holiday)
  • Monday 2 January 2012 (Additional New Year’s Day Holiday)

Please note that Sunday 25 December 2011 is not a Public Holiday in Victoria as at the date of writing.

Queensland
The following are the public holidays for the Christmas/New Year period in Queensland:

  • Sunday 25 December 2011 (Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Monday 26 December 2011 (Substitute Boxing Day Holiday)
  • Tuesday 27 December 2011 (Additional Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Sunday 1 January 2012 (New Year’s Day Holiday)
  • Monday 2 January 2012 (Additional New Year’s Day Holiday)

South Australia
The South Australian Government has declared the following days to be public holidays in that State:

  • Sunday 25 December 2011 (Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Monday 26 December 2011 (Additional Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Tuesday 27 December 2011 (Substitute Proclamation Day Holiday)
  • Sunday 1 January 2012 (New Year’s Day Holiday)
  • Monday 2 January 2012 (Additional New Year’s Day Holiday)

Western Australia
Western Australia has declared the following arrangements:

  • Sunday 25 December 2011 (Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Monday 26 December 2011 (Additional Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Tuesday 27 December 2011 (Substitute Boxing Day Holiday)
  • Sunday 1 January 2012 (New Year’s Day Holiday)
  • Monday 2 January 2012 (Additional New Year’s Day Holiday)

Tasmania
Tasmania has declared the following public holidays for the Christmas/New Year period:

  • Sunday 25 December 2011 (Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Monday 26 December 2011 (Boxing Day Holiday)
  • Tuesday 27 December 2011 (Additional Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Monday 2 January 2012 (Substitute New Year’s Day)

Please note that Sunday 1 January 2012 is not a public holiday in Tasmania.

Australian Capital Territory
The ACT has declared the following days to be public holidays:

  • Sunday 25 December 2011 (Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Monday 26 December 2011 (Additional Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Tuesday 27 December 2011 (Substitute Boxing Day Holiday)
  • Sunday 1 January 2012 (New Year’s Day Holiday)
  • Monday 2 January 2012 (Additional New Year’s Day Holiday)

Northern Territory
The following days have been declared to be public holidays in the Northern Territory:

  • Sunday 25 December 2011 (Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Monday 26 December 2011 (Additional Christmas Day Holiday)
  • Tuesday 27 December 2011 (Substitute Boxing Day Holiday)
  • Sunday 1 January 2012 (New Year’s Day Holiday)
  • Monday 2 January 2012 (Additional New Year’s Day Holiday)

Under the National Employment Standards, days that are substituted by a State or Territory law for a day that would otherwise be a Public Holiday are to be observed as the Public Holiday. Any applicable appropriate penalty payments in an award or workplace agreement should be made to employees who work on a Public Holiday.

What about payment for work on a public holiday?

Employers need to check the terms of workplace agreements and awards for additional days named as public holidays as well as checking for any applicable penalty rates. While Modern Awards typically contain penalty rates for public holidays, many workplace agreements do not as the penalties were built in to the rates of pay when the agreement was made.

Permanent employees who are not required to work on a public holiday are entitled to be paid for the day if the holiday falls on a day when they would normally work.

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