Yes, you should. An entitlement to paid time off work on a public holiday is not affected by taking personal leave either side of a public holiday. However, in order to take personal leave either side of a public holiday, you must have given the appropriate notice and evidence that you were sick. This will be specified in either the National Employment Standards, your modern award, or your registered agreement.
You can find a list of this year’s public holidays, information about requesting and refusing to work on public holidays, as well as substituting public holidays in the Public holidays section.
Although the National Employment Standards provides a list of public holidays, the Fair Work Act 2009 allows states / territories to declare additional public holidays or substitute the day prescribed as the public holiday for another day.
Therefore, the days observed as a public holiday in each state / territory may not be the same.
If a public holidays is on a day of the week that the employee is usually rostered to work, and the day is during a period of shut down (eg the business has closed down between Christmas and New Year), then the employee must be paid at their base rate of pay for the hours that they would normally work. The employee can have the day off on annual leave or unpaid lead if there is an agreement between the employer and the employee.
You’ll find more information about shut downs on the Work is temporarily shutting down page.
Yes - under the National Employment Standards (NES), the hours that an employee usually works on a public holiday count towards their ordinary hours for the purposes of overtime.
Example
Ahmed is a full-time shop assistant in Queensland, and works his ordinary hours from Monday to Friday.
Over Easter, Ahmed takes the long weekend (including Good Friday and Easter Monday) off. He returns to work on the Tuesday after Easter Monday and works his ordinary hours from Tuesday - Friday.
The shop Ahmed works in is having a big sale the weekend after Easter, and his boss asks him to come to work on Saturday for an extra 6 hours.
While Ahmed only worked Tuesday – Saturday, the hours he would have usually worked on Easter Monday still count towards his weekly ordinary hours of work. So Ahmed is entitled to be paid overtime for the time he worked on the Saturday after the Easter weekend.
Easter, Christmas & New Year public holidays
If Christmas Day (25 December), New Years Day (1 January), Easter Saturday and/or Easter Sunday are not declared a public holiday in a State or Territory, then it is treated as a normal working day.
This means that if any of these days isn’t declared a public holiday, the employer will not have to prove that it’s reasonable in order to request an employee to work on the day. Similarly, the employee can’t refuse to work under the public holiday provisions of the National Employment Standards.
If an employee is usually rostered on to work on the day of the week on which Christmas Day (25 December), New Years Day (1 January), Easter Saturday and/or Easter Sunday falls, and the day hasn’t been declared a public holiday, then they are entitled to be paid the rate they would usually receive for working on the day. A modern award or agreement may have specific entitlements for these days so it’s important to check first.
Example
Peter works as a full time cook for a small fish and chips take away store in Tasmania. He is covered by the Fast Food Industry Award 2010 [MA000003].
Peter usually works Thursday - Monday.
In Tasmania, Easter Saturday (7 April 2012) is not a public holiday.
What would Peter be paid if he is required to work on Saturday 7 April 2012?
As Saturday 7 April 2012 is not a public holiday and the Fast Food Industry Award 2010 [MA000003] does not have specific entitlements for work performed on Easter Saturday, Peter would be entitled to his usual Saturday rates of pay for all hours worked.
Example - award provides specific provisions
Thomas is a full time labourer in Victoria. He is covered by the Waste Management Award 2010 [MA000043].
Thomas usually works Sunday - Thursday.
In Victoria, Sunday 25 December 2011 is not a public holiday.
What would Thomas be paid if he is required to work on Sunday 25 December 2011?
Although Sunday 25 December 2011 is not a public holiday in Victoria, the Waste Management Award 2010 [MA000043] contains specific provisions for work performed on this day.
Therefore, Thomas will be entitled to additional benefits in addition to his usual Sunday rates of pay.
Note: Under most modern awards, public holiday penalty rates are phased in. This means that minimum obligations of employers will depend on their obligations prior to 1 January 2010.
If Christmas Day (25 December), New Years Day (1 January), Easter Saturday and/or Easter Sunday fall on a day of the week that the employee doesn’t usually work, the employee isn’t entitled to any additional payment for having the day off. The employee can request to take a day of annual leave.
If Christmas Day (25 December), New Years Day (1 January), Easter Saturday and/or Easter Sunday fall on a day of the week that the employee is usually rostered to work, the employer can’t request the employee to not attend work without payment for the day.
The employee can have the day off on annual leave or unpaid leave if there is an agreement between the employer and employee.