With the holiday season fast approaching, now is a great time to take a closer look at your obligations around public holiday pay and annual leave entitlements. The most important requirement is that all employees are entitled to a paid day off on a public holiday if it would otherwise be a normal working day.

Public holidays for the 2013/2014 holiday period include:                           

• Christmas Day (Wednesday 25 December)
• Boxing Day (Thursday 26 December)
• New Year’s Day and the day after (Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 January).

Remember that public holidays are separate from any annual leave that is taken by employees over this time.