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Public Holidays and Annual Leave, Country by Country

Whether a public holiday is a paid day off, whether it comes on top of annual leave or inside it, what happens when it lands on a weekend or during someone's holiday, and how many there are — none of this is the same in any two countries. The rules for the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Australia and Japan, and how to build a holiday calendar per location.

Reviewed · By Thoth· 6 primary sources

Short answer

In almost every European country and in Australia, public holidays are paid days off that sit on top of annual leave and are not deducted if they fall during it. The UK is the exception: employers may count them inside the 5.6-week entitlement. The Netherlands leaves them to collective agreements, the US has no private-sector requirement at all, and weekend holidays are replaced in some countries and simply lost in others. Attach a calendar to each workplace, never one to the whole company.

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Three separate questions

“Public holiday” bundles three legal questions that countries answer differently:

  1. Is it a paid day off by law? Yes in most of Europe and Australia; no in the Netherlands (collective agreements decide), the US (policy decides) and, for the private sector, Japan.
  2. Does it sit on top of annual leave or inside it? On top almost everywhere; inside, if the employer chooses, in the UK.
  3. What happens when it falls on a weekend, or during leave, or during sickness? Replaced, lost, or paid extra — and not deducted from leave in most places, but deducted in a few.

Get those three right for each workplace and the calendar builds itself.

Country by country

United Kingdom. Eight bank holidays in England and Wales, nine in Scotland, ten in Northern Ireland, published on GOV.UK. There is no statutory right to take them off — the right is to 5.6 weeks of leave, and the employer may count bank holidays within it, which is why “20 days plus bank holidays” and “28 days including bank holidays” describe the same legal minimum. Weekend holidays are moved to the following weekday. Part-time staff should get a pro-rata share regardless of which days they work. UK entitlement.

Germany. Nine holidays nationwide, plus between one and four set by each Land, so a Bavarian office and a Hamburg office have different calendars. Holidays are paid days off on top of the 20-day minimum and are never counted as leave; a holiday during annual leave is not deducted. Weekend holidays are simply lost — no substitute day. Pay for the holiday is due only if the employee would otherwise have worked that day. Germany entitlement.

France. Eleven public holidays, but only 1 May is a mandatory paid day off by statute; the others are governed by collective agreements, which almost always make them paid days off. No substitution for weekend holidays. A “pont” — bridging the gap between a holiday and a weekend — is either a company closure or taken from leave, as agreed. France entitlement.

Spain. Fourteen a year: national holidays plus regional ones and two local ones, fixed each year in the official calendar. They are paid, non-recoverable days off on top of the 30 calendar days of leave, and a holiday during annual leave is not deducted. Regions may move a Sunday holiday to Monday. Spain entitlement.

Netherlands. No statutory right to a day off on any public holiday. The CAO or employment contract decides, and most CAOs grant the official days as paid leave that does not consume vacation days — but an employer without a CAO owes nothing by law. Netherlands entitlement.

Italy. Twelve national holidays plus the local patron saint’s day, paid and on top of leave. A holiday falling on a Sunday does not move; instead most collective agreements pay an extra day’s wages. Italy entitlement.

Switzerland. Only 1 August is a federal holiday; cantons set the rest, up to around fifteen in some, so a Zurich and a Geneva office differ. Paid days off on top of leave by custom and cantonal law, no substitution for weekends. Switzerland entitlement.

Australia. Seven national public holidays plus state and territory days. Under the National Employment Standards employees may be absent on a public holiday and are paid their base rate if they would otherwise have worked; they can be asked to work only if the request is reasonable. Holidays during annual leave are not deducted. States legislate substitute days when a holiday falls on a weekend. Australia entitlement.

United States. Eleven federal holidays, observed on the nearest weekday when they fall on a weekend — for federal employees. No law requires private employers to give them off or to pay a premium; both are policy. Many employers count some holidays inside a PTO bank. US state payout rules.

Japan. Sixteen national holidays, with a substitute Monday when one falls on a Sunday. They are not a statutory paid entitlement for private-sector employees — work rules decide — though most companies grant them. Annual leave is 10 days rising to 20.

United Arab Emirates. Public holidays are a separate entitlement, but a holiday that falls during a period of annual leave counts as part of the leave unless the contract or company policy is more generous — the opposite of the European rule. UAE entitlement.

Holidays during sickness and leave

  • During annual leave: not deducted in most of Europe and Australia; may be inside the entitlement in the UK; counted as leave in the UAE.
  • During sick leave: in countries with employer-paid sick pay, the holiday is usually paid as a holiday rather than as sick pay (Germany pays holiday pay under the continued-remuneration law). In the UK, statutory sick pay is paid only for qualifying days, and a bank holiday can be one of them.
  • During parental leave: the holiday is absorbed by the parental leave in most systems; it does not extend the leave. The underlying schemes differ sharply by country — see sick leave and sick pay by country and parental leave by country.

Building the calendar

  1. One calendar per workplace, defined by where the person habitually works — the same rule that decides which country’s leave law applies.
  2. Regional first. German Länder, Spanish autonomous communities and municipalities, Swiss cantons, Australian states, US states for state holidays.
  3. Decide the weekend rule per calendar: substitute (UK, Australia, US, Japan) or lost (Germany, France, Switzerland) or extra pay (Italy).
  4. Record the interaction with annual leave — on top (default), inside (UK, if chosen), counted (UAE).
  5. Pro-rate for part-timers where the calendar would otherwise favour some working patterns.
  6. Publish next year’s calendar by October. Spain and several regions fix theirs annually; employees plan around them.

Why this matters more than it looks

Public holidays are the most frequent source of small, wrong balances in a multi-location team: a company-wide calendar deducts a day of leave from everyone outside head office two or three times a year, and nobody notices until an exit payout is disputed. The fix is structural — a calendar attached to each policy group — and the multi-country guide shows where it sits in the rest of the setup.

Common questions

If a public holiday falls during my annual leave, do I lose a day?

In most of Europe and in Australia, no — the day is a public holiday, not annual leave, and your balance is not reduced. In the UK it depends on whether your employer counts bank holidays within your entitlement. In the United Arab Emirates, holidays falling within annual leave count as part of it unless the contract says otherwise.

What happens when a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday?

It depends on the country. The UK, Australia and the US move the observance to a weekday. Germany, Switzerland, France and Spain generally do not, though Spanish regions may shift a Sunday holiday to Monday. Italy gives an extra day's pay rather than a day off in most sectors.

Do part-time employees get public holidays?

Where holidays are paid days off, part-timers get them if the holiday falls on a day they would have worked; countries where that would be unfair to people who never work Mondays (the UK, for example) expect pro-rata treatment across the year. Germany pays the holiday only if it falls on a scheduled working day.

Are US private employers required to give holidays off or pay a premium?

No. Federal holidays apply to federal employees; private employers set holidays and any premium pay by policy or contract, and no law requires either. Most give the major holidays as paid days off anyway.

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Sources

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and national implementations differ — confirm against the current text or a local employment lawyer before acting. See our methodology.