Public Holiday Pay in Singapore: Employer Rules for Christmas 2026 and 2027

Short answer: Employees covered by Singapore’s Employment Act get 11 paid public holidays a year at their gross rate of pay. An employee asked to work on one must receive an extra day’s salary at the basic rate, or a substitute day off by agreement. A holiday on a Sunday rest day moves to the next working day.

Christmas Day falls on Friday 25 December 2026 and New Year’s Day on Friday 1 January 2027, and many businesses will roster staff to work through them. This guide sets out public holiday pay in Singapore as section 88 of the Employment Act 1968 and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) apply it: who is entitled, what to pay someone who works, what happens when a holiday lands on a weekend, how part-timers are pro-rated, and how the payment flows into CPF and the payslip.

Raffles Corporate Services works with a panel of experienced Singapore law firms who offer cost-effective and efficient legal service and advice. This article is general information only and is not legal advice.

Which employees are entitled to paid public holidays in Singapore?

Every employee covered by the Employment Act gets a paid holiday at the gross rate of pay on each public holiday during employment, including managers, executives, work pass holders, and part-time, temporary and contract staff.

The Act excludes seafarers, domestic workers, and civil servants or statutory board employees, who take holiday terms from their contracts. The 11 gazetted holidays are New Year’s Day, two days of Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Hari Raya Haji, Good Friday, Labour Day, Vesak Day, National Day, Deepavali and Christmas Day. The Government can declare an extra holiday, as it did for Polling Day on 3 May 2025.

Two pay rates matter, and payroll errors usually come from mixing them up. The gross rate of pay includes contractual allowances (but not overtime, bonus, annual wage supplement, productivity incentives, reimbursements, or travel, food and housing allowances) and is used for the paid holiday. The basic rate of pay excludes all allowances and is used for the extra day’s pay when someone works on the holiday. For a monthly-rated employee, MOM calculates one day’s rate as (12 × monthly rate) ÷ (52 × average working days per week). Our overview of the Employment Act’s key provisions covers the wider framework.

What are the remaining 2026 and the 2027 public holidays?

MOM has published both calendars. Two holidays remain in 2026.

Source: MOM’s public holidays calendar, checked on 22 October 2026.

What is the public holiday pay in Singapore if an employee works on the day?

The employee keeps the normal paid holiday at the gross rate (already inside the monthly salary) and must also receive an extra day’s salary at the basic rate of pay. If the contract provides a travelling allowance, one day’s allowance is added.

Section 88(4) of the Employment Act allows an employer to require work on a public holiday, but MOM’s guidance says working on a holiday is subject to the employment contract or mutual agreement, so the contract should say so. Housing and food allowances are not doubled (section 88(5)), and overtime pay applies to hours beyond the normal working day.

Alternatively, the parties can agree to substitute another day as the paid holiday under section 88(1)(a), a “public holiday in lieu”. Record the replacement date in writing before the holiday.

Can managers and executives get time off in lieu instead?

Yes, for employees outside Part 4 of the Act. Part 4 covers non-workmen earning a basic monthly salary of S$2,600 or less and workmen earning S$4,500 or less; it does not cover managers or executives.

Under section 88(4A), an employee outside Part 4 who works on a public holiday is paid the gross rate for the day and may be given time off in lieu (TOIL) instead of the extra day’s pay. The number of hours off can be agreed. If there is no agreement, the statute fixes it:

1. Worked 4 hours or less on the holiday: 4 hours off on a working day.
2. Worked more than 4 hours: a full day off on a working day.
3. Alternatively, the employer may simply pay the extra day’s salary at the basic rate.

Part 4 employees do not have this option; they get the extra day’s basic pay or an agreed substitute holiday.

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

If the holiday falls on the employee’s rest day, the next working day becomes a paid holiday. If it falls on a non-working day, the employer either pays one extra day at the gross rate or gives another day off.

For 5-day-week staff, MOM treats Saturday as the non-working day and Sunday as the rest day. So Christmas Day 2027 (a Saturday) earns a Monday-to-Friday employee a day’s gross pay or a replacement day off. If a holiday falls on a half working day, the full-day rate applies (section 88(7)).

For shift workers whose rest day is not Sunday, apply the rule to each person’s rostered rest day and non-working days, and keep the holiday-period roster with the payroll file.

When can an employee lose public holiday pay?

An employee who is absent on the working day immediately before or after a public holiday, without the employer’s prior consent or a reasonable excuse, is not entitled to holiday pay for that holiday (section 88(3)). For a monthly-rated employee, MOM says the employer can deduct one day’s pay at the gross rate.

Authorised leave (sick, annual or unpaid) on the day before or after does not trigger forfeiture. But under section 88(2), a holiday falling within approved no-pay leave is unpaid: unpaid leave on 8 August still leaves 9 August paid, while unpaid leave from 8 to 10 August does not. If leave changes after payroll is run, see our note on reconciling unpaid leave entered after salary was calculated.

How do part-time employees get public holiday pay?

Part-time employees (under 35 hours a week) are entitled to paid public holidays, pro-rated by hours worked compared with a similar full-time employee.

MOM’s formula is: (part-timer’s annual hours ÷ comparable full-timer’s annual hours) × the full-timer’s number of public holidays × the full-timer’s daily hours. In MOM’s example, a 22-hour-a-week part-timer compared with a 44-hour full-timer working 8-hour days gets 4 hours’ pay per holiday. The contract can instead encash the holidays into a higher hourly rate. A part-timer who works on a holiday gets the basic rate for one day’s work plus the pro-rated holiday amount. If hours change, see our guide on part-time employees increasing their weekly hours.

How is holiday pay calculated? Worked examples for December 2026 and January 2027

Unless stated, the examples assume a monthly-rated, 5-day-week employee with basic salary of S$3,900 and a fixed allowance of S$300. Daily basic rate: 12 × S$3,900 ÷ (52 × 5) = S$180.00. Daily gross rate: 12 × S$4,200 ÷ 260 = S$193.85.

Figures are illustrative and rounded to the cent; check each contract and working pattern before paying. Other payroll helpers are on our free tools page.

How should public holiday pay appear in CPF and on the payslip?

It is CPF-able wages and needs its own payslip line.

The CPF Board’s list of allowances and payments marks extra duty payments, including public holiday work, as CPF-payable. Paid with that month’s salary for work in that month, it will usually meet the CPF Board’s two tests for ordinary wages (given for that month’s employment and payable by the 14th of the following month). Our payroll and CPF guide for employers sets out the contribution rates and deadlines.

MOM’s itemised payslip rules list public holiday pay among the additional payments to show when it applies, with forfeited holiday pay under deductions. Payslips go out with the payment or within three working days, and records are kept for the latest two years.

What mistakes do employers make with public holiday pay?

• Mixing up the rates: basic for the extra day, gross for the paid holiday.
• Missing the Monday holiday after a Sunday holiday, especially for shift staff.
• Treating Saturday holidays as lost for 5-day-week staff.
• Offering TOIL to employees covered by Part 4.
• Docking holiday pay when the employee was on approved leave the day before.
• Leaving holiday pay out of the CPF declaration or folding it into basic salary on the payslip.
• Agreeing a substitute holiday verbally with no record of the date.

To hand this over, see what a monthly payroll service should include. For year-end hiring and work passes, our associated MOM-licensed agency at singaporeemploymentagency.com can help.

Frequently asked questions

Is Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve a public holiday in Singapore?

No. Neither is a gazetted public holiday, so any half day off on 24 or 31 December is a company benefit set by your own policy, not a statutory entitlement.

Can I make an employee work on a public holiday?

Section 88(4) allows it, subject to the contract or mutual agreement, according to MOM. The employee then receives an extra day’s basic pay, an agreed substitute holiday or, outside Part 4, time off in lieu.

Do employees on probation get paid public holidays?

Yes. The entitlement under section 88(1) applies to any public holiday falling during employment, with no minimum service period.

What if a public holiday falls during maternity leave?

MOM says that if paid maternity leave is taken in a continuous block, pay for a public holiday within it is already included in the maternity leave pay, so no extra holiday pay is due. If the continuous block is unpaid maternity leave, no public holiday pay is due for that period.

Last reviewed: 22 October 2026. The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services.