For employees that normally work Thursdays, they should be paid time and a half for the hours they work and receive an alternative holiday. The extra staff that do not normally work Thursdays should also be paid time and a half for the hours they work but they are not entitled to receive an alternative holiday. This is because Thursday would not be considered an otherwise working day for the extra staff.

Yes, if Christmas day (Thursday 25 December 2025) is an otherwise working day for your employees then they would need to be paid their ordinary wage or sum of (the greater of the two). The same rule applies to any of the public holidays you may choose to be closed on.

Not necessarily. See our guide for determining otherwise working days for employees.

Yes, employees that would have other wised worked on those public holidays if the closedown was not enforced would need to be paid their normal days wages or other thing.

Anyone who works on a public holiday is entitled to be paid at a rate of time and a half. If the public holiday is an “otherwise working day” for the employee, and they do work it, then they are also entitled to one day’s full paid leave – an alternative holiday – to take some paid time off in the future. This applies to both wage and salaried employees. If the public holiday falls on a day that is not an otherwise working day, and they do work it, then they are entitled to be paid at time and a half, but they do not earn an alternative holiday.

The Restaurant Association employment agreement sets out that the employer may request the employee works on a public holiday when they are rostered to do so. You must specifically advise of this in advance. However, if the public holiday falls on an otherwise working day for the employee but it has been agreed that they will have the day off, they are entitled to be paid the amount that they would have received had they worked on that day (their relevant daily pay). There is no obligation to pay an employee for the public holiday if they do not work that day and it is not an otherwise working day for them.

It can often be difficult to determine whether a public holiday falls on an ‘otherwise working day’ for an employee. This is particularly important when establishing an employee’s entitlements over a public holiday. If it is not clear whether a day would otherwise be a working day for an employee, the employer and employee must try to reach an agreement by taking into consideration the factors listed in the Holidays Act 2003. If an agreement cannot be reached, a Labour Inspector can make a decision.

Some of the factors you should consider are:

• What the employment agreement says
• The employee’s work patterns
• The employer’s rosters or similar systems
• The reasonable expectations of the employer and employee as to whether the employee would (have) work(ed) on the day concerned
• Whether the employee works for the employer only when work is available In summary there is no hard and fast rule. A genuine consideration of all the factors is required by the employer. In highly variable roster situations, it may be expected that an employer review 3-6 months of work history to help form their decision about work patterns and otherwise working days.

The Restaurant Association can provide further guidance on this.

*Download the guide to the ‘Otherwise Working Day’ here .