Public holiday rule in South Africa can get you other days off work

The Public Holidays Act allows employees to exchange a public holiday for any other day agreed to between an employer and employee.

This clause in the Public Holidays Act of 1994 is not well known, and very few employees take advantage of it.

South Africa has twelve public holidays, which start with New Year’s Day on 1 January and end with Boxing Day on 26 December.

The “Days to be observed as public holidays” part of the Act states that whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday.

Most South Africans are well aware that they will get a day off work, even if the public holiday falls on a Sunday.

However, few people are aware of the second part of the Act’s “Days to be observed as public holidays.”

It states that “any public holiday shall be exchangeable for any other day which is fixed by agreement or agreed to between an employer and employee”.

Simply put, an employee who doesn’t want to take a certain public holiday has the right to request paid leave on another day.

It should be noted that the employee should reach an agreement with his employer regarding the issue.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act states that employers cannot require employees to work on public holidays and must pay their normal wages.

This means an employee can request to work on a public holiday in exchange for another day off work and receive full pay on that day.

This proposal is partly based on the need to treat South Africans of different religions equally regarding public holidays and days off work.

The two main Christian holidays, Christmas and Easter, are declared as paid public holidays in South Africa.

People from other religions who celebrate other faith-based holidays could be disadvantaged as their holidays are not declared public holidays.

Therefore, South Africans with other faiths do not have an automatic benefit of pay on those days they take off.

However, the public holiday exchange provision in the Act gives non-Christian employees the right to request paid leave on another day instead of Good Friday or Christmas.

Most employers in South Africa are fine with such a request and are very tolerant towards people of different religions in the workplace.

Public Holidays Act: Days to be observed as public holidays

(1) The days mentioned in Schedule 1 shall be public holidays, and whenever any public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), any public holiday shall be exchangeable for any other day which is fixed by agreement or agreed to between an employer and employee.