The HR Guide to Singapore Public Holidays
Singapore celebrates 11 public holidays every year, reflecting the diverse cultures and religions in the country.
In general, public holidays are a rest day for employees. However, if they have to work on a public holiday, several special rules apply. This article will discuss how Singapore public holidays work for HR professionals.
Public Holidays in Singapore
The 11 gazetted public holidays
Employees covered by the Employment Act are entitled to all 11 paid public holidays. In Singapore, the 11 gazetted public holidays are:
- New Year’s Day (1 January)
- Chinese New Year – first day (22 January)
- Chinese New Year – second day (23 January)
- Good Friday (7 April)
- Hari Raya Puasa (22 April)
- Labour Day (1 May)
- Vesak Day (2 June)
- Hari Raya Haji (29 June)
- National Day (9 August)
- Deepavali (12 November)
- Christmas Day (25 December)
*Dates as of 2023
If the public holiday falls on a rest day, the following working day will be a paid public holiday. For example, when National Day fell on a Sunday in 2015, the Monday that followed (10 August 2015) was declared a public holiday.
Employees are not entitled to public holiday pay if they are:
- absent on the working day before or after the holiday without consent or reasonable excuse, or;
- on unpaid leave.
Public holiday on polling day
In case of a general election or presidential election, Singaporean employees will be entitled to a public holiday to enable voting, under section 35 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 and section 17 of the Presidential Elections Act 1991 respectively. The most recent example would be the presidential elections held on 1 September 2023.
Employees Working on a Public Holiday
In case employees are required to work on public holidays, employers should pay employees an extra day’s pay on top of their monthly gross salary. Employers will also need to pay overtime pay for work done beyond working hours.
Alternatively, by mutual agreement, employers can give replacement leave or time-off in lieu to be taken at any time.
Employees working on polling day
The above also applies for employees that are required to work on public holidays declared for the purposes of an election.
In addition, employers must give employees reasonable time off from work to cast their vote. Otherwise, the employer will be in breach of section 76 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 or section 58 of the Presidential Elections Act 1991.
Manage Leave and Public Holidays with BrioHR
With BrioHR, you can manage public holidays as well as leave and time-off in a simple, automated HR system.
Since BrioHR is cloud-based, we constantly update the system to include the latest public holidays, so you can rest assured that your team is getting their due time-off.
With a secure, scalable, user-friendly platform, BrioHR covers the entire employee journey from recruitment to onboarding, payroll and claims, to performance and analytics, and more.
This enables business owners and HR teams to truly focus on what matters most – people.
Visit briohr.com and get a free demo now.
Singapore celebrates 11 public holidays every year, reflecting the diverse cultures and religions in the country.
In general, public holidays are a rest day for employees. However, if they have to work on a public holiday, several special rules apply. This article will discuss how Singapore public holidays work for HR professionals.
Public Holidays in Singapore
The 11 gazetted public holidays
Employees covered by the Employment Act are entitled to all 11 paid public holidays. In Singapore, the 11 gazetted public holidays are:
- New Year’s Day (1 January)
- Chinese New Year – first day (22 January)
- Chinese New Year – second day (23 January)
- Good Friday (7 April)
- Hari Raya Puasa (22 April)
- Labour Day (1 May)
- Vesak Day (2 June)
- Hari Raya Haji (29 June)
- National Day (9 August)
- Deepavali (12 November)
- Christmas Day (25 December)
*Dates as of 2023
If the public holiday falls on a rest day, the following working day will be a paid public holiday. For example, when National Day fell on a Sunday in 2015, the Monday that followed (10 August 2015) was declared a public holiday.
Employees are not entitled to public holiday pay if they are:
- absent on the working day before or after the holiday without consent or reasonable excuse, or;
- on unpaid leave.
Public holiday on polling day
In case of a general election or presidential election, Singaporean employees will be entitled to a public holiday to enable voting, under section 35 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 and section 17 of the Presidential Elections Act 1991 respectively. The most recent example would be the presidential elections held on 1 September 2023.
Employees Working on a Public Holiday
In case employees are required to work on public holidays, employers should pay employees an extra day’s pay on top of their monthly gross salary. Employers will also need to pay overtime pay for work done beyond working hours.
Alternatively, by mutual agreement, employers can give replacement leave or time-off in lieu to be taken at any time.
Employees working on polling day
The above also applies for employees that are required to work on public holidays declared for the purposes of an election.
In addition, employers must give employees reasonable time off from work to cast their vote. Otherwise, the employer will be in breach of section 76 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 or section 58 of the Presidential Elections Act 1991.
Manage Leave and Public Holidays with BrioHR
With BrioHR, you can manage public holidays as well as leave and time-off in a simple, automated HR system.
Since BrioHR is cloud-based, we constantly update the system to include the latest public holidays, so you can rest assured that your team is getting their due time-off.
