The short version
A bank holiday doesn’t automatically mean a day off. What the law gives you is a benefit for each public holiday, and your employer picks which one. Most people get the day itself off with pay, but working on a bank holiday is perfectly legal as long as you get one of the alternatives.
The rules come from the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. This page explains them in plain English. It isn’t legal advice, and if something’s unclear for your job, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and Citizens Information are the official sources.
The four options
If you qualify, your employer has to give you one of these for each public holiday:
- A paid day off on the public holiday itself.
- A paid day off within a month of the public holiday.
- An extra day of annual leave.
- An extra day’s pay.
Asking which one you’ll get
You can ask your employer, at least 21 days before the holiday, which option will apply. If they don’t reply at least 14 days before, you’re entitled to take the public holiday itself as a paid day off. It’s worth putting the question in writing, by email is fine, so there’s a record.
Full-time and part-time workers
Full-time employees qualify straight away, even in their first week. Part-time employees qualify once they’ve worked at least 40 hours for the employer in the five weeks before the holiday. Annual leave taken during those five weeks counts as time worked.
If you’re part-time and the holiday falls on a day you’d normally work, you get paid for it even though you’re off (or an extra day’s pay if you work it). If it falls on a day you don’t normally work, you’re entitled to one-fifth of your weekly pay instead, as long as you meet the 40-hour rule.
When the holiday falls on a weekend
When a public holiday lands on a Saturday or Sunday, you’re still entitled to the benefit. But there’s no automatic legal right to the following Monday off. In practice, banks and most employers give the next working day off, which is why our tables show a substitute ‘day off’, but your employer could choose one of the other options instead.
Sick leave, family leave and lay-off
If you’re on sick leave on a public holiday, you’re still entitled to the benefit, unless you’ve been off for more than 26 weeks because of an ordinary illness or accident, or more than 52 weeks after an occupational accident, immediately before the holiday.
Maternity, paternity, adoptive, parent’s, parental and domestic violence leave all count: you keep your public holiday entitlement. If you’ve been laid off or put on short time, you’re entitled to benefit for public holidays in the first 13 weeks. You don’t qualify if you’re absent because of a strike.
If your job ends in the week ending on the day before a public holiday, and you’d worked for the employer for the four weeks before that week, you’re entitled to an extra day’s pay for the holiday.
Days that are not public holidays
Good Friday and Christmas Eve are the two days people most often assume are bank holidays. Neither is. Many employers close or let staff go early, but you have no automatic entitlement to either day off. The same goes for 2 January, Easter Tuesday and any ‘company days’. Those are up to your employer.
If you’re not getting your entitlement
Start by talking to your employer, as a lot of problems are misunderstandings about which option applies. If that doesn’t work, you can make a complaint to the WRC under the Organisation of Working Time Act using its online complaint form. The complaint must be made within six months, which can be extended by a further six months if there was a reasonable cause for the delay.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, if it’s part of your job. You must then get another benefit: a paid day off within a month, an extra day of annual leave, or an extra day’s pay.
Not by law. The legal minimum is an extra day’s pay or one of the other options. Higher rates only apply if your contract or a workplace agreement says so.
Yes, once they’ve worked at least 40 hours in the five weeks before the holiday.
No. Good Friday is not a public holiday, so there’s no automatic right to the day off.
Can my employer make me work on a bank holiday?
Yes, if it’s part of your job. You must then get another benefit: a paid day off within a month, an extra day of annual leave, or an extra day’s pay.
Do I get time and a half on a bank holiday in Ireland?
Not by law. The legal minimum is an extra day’s pay or one of the other options. Higher rates only apply if your contract or a workplace agreement says so.
Do part-time workers get paid for bank holidays?
Yes, once they’ve worked at least 40 hours in the five weeks before the holiday.
Is Good Friday a public holiday in Ireland?
No. Good Friday is not a public holiday, so there’s no automatic right to the day off.
Sources: Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, Citizens Information and the Workplace Relations Commission. This is general guidance only, so check with your employer, the WRC or Citizens Information for your own situation.