The provisions of the Labor Code concerning statutory public holidays apply exclusively to employees engaged on a full-time basis (i.e., 40 hours per week). Such employees are entitled to 11 statutory public holidays per year, amounting to a total of 88 hours.
Statutory Public Holidays in 2026
| Thursday, 1 January 2026 | New Year |
| Monday, 6 April 2026 | Easter Monday |
| Friday, 1 May 2026 | Labour Day |
| Saturday, 9 May 2026 | Europe Day |
| Thursday, 14 May 2026 | Ascension |
| Monday, 25 May 2026 | Whit Monday |
| Tuesday, 23 June 2026 | National Day |
| Saturday, 15 August 2026 | Assumption Day |
| Sunday, 1 November 2026 | All Saints’ Day |
| Friday, 25 December 2026 | Christmas Day |
| Saturday, 26 December 2026 | St Stephens’ Day (Boxing Day) |
What about public holidays for part-time employees?
For employees engaged on a part-time basis, the principle of proportionality must be applied according to the following formula:
Calculation: 88/40 × Y = Z
Y = number of hours worked per week for a given employer
Z = number of statutory public holiday hours to which the employee is entitled with that employer
Accordingly, an employee working 32 hours per week shall be entitled to the payment of 70.4 hours of statutory public holidays per year.
Furthermore, it is imperative to observe another principle, namely that a part-time employee is entitled to the payment of his or her monthly salary as stipulated in the employment contract, and may under no circumstances suffer a reduction in salary due to the occurrence of a statutory public holiday.
In practice, it is therefore recommended that the employer carry out a ‘calculation of statutory public holidays’ at the beginning of each year. The first step is to determine the number of statutory public holiday hours to which the part-time employee is entitled for the year 2026, and subsequently to list those statutory public holidays falling on a day when the employee would normally have worked, as well as those falling on a day when the employee would not, in any event, have been scheduled to work.
For each statutory public holiday falling on a day when the employee would normally have worked, the employee is entitled to remuneration corresponding to the number of working hours that would ordinarily have been performed on that day.
For statutory public holidays falling on a day when the employee would not normally have worked, the employee’s entitlement to compensation must be determined by applying the so‑called ‘smoothing’ method. This involves calculating the average number of working hours per day for a part‑time employee by dividing his or her weekly working hours by the five working days of the week (for example, 4 hours per day for an employee working half‑time). The employee shall thus be entitled to compensatory leave equal in duration to his or her average daily working time. Such compensatory leave must be granted under the same conditions as for a full‑time employee (within a period of three months), until the entitlement has been fully exhausted.
Practical case: an employee working 32 hours per week from Monday to Thursday
- Number of statutory public holiday hours to which the part-time employee is entitled = 70.40 hours (calculated as 88/40 × 32)
- Statutory public holidays falling on a day when the employee would normally have worked
| Thursday, 1 January 2026 – New Year | 8 hours |
| Monday, 6 April 2026 – Easter Monday | 8 hours |
| Thursday, 14 May 2026 – Ascension Day | 8 hours |
| Monday, 25 May 2026 – Whit Monday | 8 hours |
| Tuesday, 23 June 2026 – National Day | 8 hours |
| TOTAL | 40 hours |
For each of these days, the employee is entitled to remuneration corresponding to the number of working hours that would ordinarily have been performed on that day.
- Statutory public holidays falling on a day when the employee would not normally have worked
| Friday, 1 May 2026 – Labour Day | 6.40 hours |
| Saturday, 9 May 2026 – Europe Day | 6.40 hours |
| Saturday, 15 August 2026 – Assumption Day | 6.40 hours |
| Sunday, 1 November 2026 – All Saints’ Day | 6.40 hours |
| Friday, 25 December 2026 – Christmas Day | 4.80 hours |
| Saturday, 26 December 2026 – St. Stephen’s Day (Boxing Day) | 0 hour |
| TOTAL | 30.40 hours |
For these days, the ‘smoothing’ method must be applied: the employee shall be entitled to compensatory leave of 6.40 hours (calculated as 32 weekly working hours / 5 working days), until his or her entitlement has been fully exhausted. In view of the 40 paid public holiday hours already granted, the employee retains a remaining balance of 30.40 hours as compensatory leave.
This approach constitutes the statutory calculation method applied by the ITM (Labour and Mines Inspectorate).
If this method appears too complex, an alternative would be to automatically grant, for each public holiday falling on a day not worked by the employee, a number of hours corresponding to the employee’s average daily working time. In the example above, the employee would then receive 6.40 hours of compensation for each non‑worked public holiday, which would be more favourable to the employee and therefore lawful.
Attention: what about public holidays for employees working part-time due to parental leave?
When an employee benefits from part-time or split parental leave, the issue of public holidays is not settled in exactly the same way as for ordinary part-time work.
In fact, the law does not provide for a specific rule but two situations must be distinguished.
If a public holiday falls during a period covered by parental leave, the employee does not recover that day. No compensation is due, since the day is covered by the Children’s Future Fund (Caisse pour l’Avenir des Enfants – CAE), which pays the parental leave allowance. In other words, the rules applicable to part-time employees (as explained above) do not apply in this case.
Conversely, if the public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, i.e. a non-working day in the company, the employee may benefit from compensatory leave calculated pro rata to his or her working time during parental leave, and until the entitlement has been fully exhausted, as in the case of ordinary part-time work.
Practical case: an employee working 32 hours per week from Monday to Thursday due to split parental leave
- Number of statutory public holiday hours to which the part‑time employee is entitled = 70.40 hours (calculated as 88/40 × 32)
- Statutory public holidays falling on a day when the employee would normally have worked or for which the employee receives parental leave allowance
| Thursday, 1 January 2026 – New Year | 8 hours |
| Monday, 6 April 2026 – Easter Monday | 8 hours |
| Friday, 1 May 2026 – Labour Day | 8 hours – CAE |
| Thursday, 14 May 2026 – Ascension Day | 8 hours |
| Monday, 25 May 2026 – Whit Monday | 8 hours |
| Tuesday, 23 June 2026 – National Day | 8 hours |
| Friday, 25 December 2026 – Christmas Day | 8 hours – CAE |
| TOTAL | 56 hours |
For each of these days, the employee is entitled to remuneration corresponding to the number of working hours that would normally have been performed on that day.
- Statutory public holidays falling on a day when the employee would neither have worked nor received parental leave allowance
| Saturday, 9 May 2026 – Europe Day | 6.40 hours |
| Saturday, 15 August 2026 – Assumption Day | 6.40 hours |
| Sunday, 1 November 2026 – All Saints’ Day | 1.60 hours |
| Saturday, 26 December 2026 – St. Stephen’s Day (Boxing Day) | 0 hour |
| TOTAL | 14.40 hours |