Do Tradies Have to Work on Public Holidays?

Public holidays can be a tricky time for trade businesses.

On one hand, you’ve got customer demand (especially for emergency call-outs and time-sensitive jobs). On the other, you’ve got payroll costs, penalty rates, and very real frustrations if you roster someone on without understanding what the rules actually say.

If you’re trying to work out whether tradies have to work on public holidays (and whether you can require it), the short answer is: sometimes - but it depends on the worker’s employment type, their award or enterprise agreement, what your employment contract says, and whether the request is reasonable under the Fair Work rules.

This article is general information only and doesn’t take into account your particular circumstances. Because awards, enterprise agreements and contracts can change the outcome, it’s worth getting advice if you’re unsure.

Below, we’ll walk you through how to think about public holidays in a practical, legally-aware way, so you can keep your jobs running without creating unnecessary disputes or compliance risk.

First Things First: What Counts As A “Public Holiday” For Your Business?

In Australia, public holidays are set by states and territories, and there can be differences depending on where the employee is based and where the work is performed (including regional or local public holidays).

As a business owner, it’s worth confirming:

Which state/territory public holiday rules apply (this is often linked to where the employee is performing work, but can be fact-specific - particularly for travelling employees or businesses operating across borders).
Whether it’s a full-day or part-day public holiday (some regions have part-day public holidays).
Whether the employee is covered by an award or enterprise agreement that has specific public holiday rostering and pay provisions.

If you operate across multiple locations (for example, you send teams across borders for projects), getting this wrong can quickly cause payroll errors and underpayment risk.

What Actually Determines Whether Tradies Work On Public Holidays?

There isn’t one single rule that covers every tradie and every business.

Whether your tradies can be required to work (and what they must be paid) usually comes down to a mix of:

The National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act
The relevant modern award (many tradies are award-covered)
An enterprise agreement (if your business has one)
The employment contract (and whether it’s consistent with the award/NES)
Workplace policies and rostering practices
The individual circumstances (including whether a request is “reasonable”)

The NES: The Core Rule You Need To Know

Under the NES, employees are generally entitled to be absent from work on a public holiday.

However, an employer can request an employee to work on a public holiday if the request is reasonable, and an employee can refuse if the refusal is reasonable.

This “reasonable request / reasonable refusal” framework is where most tradie businesses need to focus, because it’s not simply “you can” or “you can’t”. It’s contextual.

Modern Awards And Enterprise Agreements Matter A Lot In Trades

Many trade businesses fall under awards that include specific provisions about:

public holiday penalty rates
how public holidays are treated if the employee is rostered off
substitution arrangements (for example, swapping a public holiday for another day off)
minimum engagement periods or call-out rules

If you’re not sure which award applies (or whether your team is award-free), it’s worth checking early - public holiday mistakes are common, and they can be expensive.

Employment Type: Full-Time, Part-Time, Casual And Contractors

“Tradies” can mean different working arrangements in the same business. Your obligations and flexibility can change depending on who you’re engaging.

Full-time employees: typically have paid public holiday entitlements (subject to the NES and their award/agreement).
Part-time employees: often have paid public holiday entitlements if the public holiday falls on a day they would normally work.
Casual employees: generally don’t get paid for a public holiday they don’t work, but may be entitled to higher rates if they do work (depending on the award/agreement).
Independent contractors: public holiday entitlements and penalty rates usually don’t apply in the same way, but you should be careful - misclassifying employees as contractors is a major legal risk area.

Tip: make sure your paperwork matches reality. If you treat someone like an employee (set hours, direct the work, integrate them into your team), you may not be able to “contract” your way out of public holiday entitlements.

Can You Require Your Tradies To Work On A Public Holiday?

Sometimes, yes - but you should approach it as a structured decision rather than a last-minute demand.

The key question is whether your request is reasonable, taking into account the circumstances.

What Makes A Request “Reasonable”?

What’s reasonable depends on factors such as:

The nature of the work (e.g. emergency repairs vs. a routine non-urgent job)
Your operational requirements (e.g. contractual deadlines, safety issues, essential services)
The employee’s personal circumstances (e.g. caring responsibilities, religious observance)
Whether the employee could reasonably expect to work public holidays (based on their role and past patterns)
Whether you gave enough notice (last-minute changes increase risk)
Whether you’re offering the correct pay/entitlements (including penalty rates)

If you’re routinely scheduling public holiday work, it’s a good idea to build that expectation into your workforce planning and documentation (rather than relying on ad-hoc requests).

When Can An Employee Refuse?

An employee can refuse to work on a public holiday if the refusal is reasonable. Common examples can include:

short notice and pre-existing commitments
family or caring obligations
health and safety reasons (including fatigue)
the request being inconsistent with the employee’s contract or roster pattern

As a practical point, “reasonable refusal” disputes are often preventable with early communication and consistent rostering practices.

What About Emergency Call-Out Work?

Trade businesses often have an emergency component (burst pipes, electrical faults, urgent make-safe works).

Emergency work can strengthen the argument that a request is reasonable - but you still need to:

apply the correct award/agreement provisions (including call-out minimums)
pay the correct public holiday rates
manage fatigue and WHS risk (especially if the employee has already worked long hours)

Public Holiday Pay And Penalty Rates: What Will It Cost Your Business?

Cost is often the practical driver behind the question of whether tradies have to work on public holidays. Even when you can roster someone on, you also need to budget for what that work will cost and document it properly.

Public holiday pay commonly falls into these buckets (depending on the worker and the instrument covering them):

Not working the public holiday: eligible employees may still be paid their base rate for ordinary hours they would have worked.
Working on the public holiday: the employee may be entitled to penalty rates and/or an alternative day off (depending on the award/agreement).
Casual public holiday shifts: casuals are typically paid for hours actually worked, often with a loading/penalty structure in the award.

If your business operates in NSW and you’re sanity-checking how this is usually treated in payroll planning, the overview in Public Holiday Pay Rates is a helpful starting point (although you still need to apply the correct award/agreement for your business).

Substituted Public Holidays (Swapping The Day Off)

Some awards and agreements allow a public holiday to be substituted for another day (for example, if your team works a shutdown period differently or if you have a rotating roster).

If you’re considering this:

check the award/agreement process (some require agreement in writing)
keep payroll records consistent (substitution can cause errors if it’s informal)
make sure you don’t accidentally undercut the minimum entitlement

If Someone Is On Leave, Does The Public Holiday Affect Pay?

Public holidays can interact with leave in ways that surprise business owners, especially around shutdowns and planned breaks.

For example, under the NES, if a public holiday falls during a period when an employee is on paid annual leave, the public holiday generally isn’t counted as annual leave. However, awards, enterprise agreements and particular leave arrangements can affect how this applies in practice.

It’s also worth ensuring your payroll approach to leave is consistent and documented, including how you handle Annual Leave Payments.

Rostering Tradies On Public Holidays Without Creating Disputes

Even when the law is on your side, poor rostering practices can damage trust, increase turnover, and create complaints.

Here are practical ways to reduce friction while staying compliant.

1. Build Public Holiday Expectations Into Your Documentation

If public holiday work is a real part of your business model (for example, you run a 24/7 maintenance line or service critical infrastructure), it should be reflected in:

the role description
the employment contract
your rostering and on-call policies

For many businesses, it’s worth having a properly tailored Employment Contract that clearly explains ordinary hours, overtime, and expectations around work on weekends and public holidays (while still complying with the award and NES).

2. Give As Much Notice As You Can

Short-notice public holiday rostering is one of the fastest ways to end up with a “reasonable refusal” situation.

Even if your award doesn’t specify a particular lead time, best practice is to provide clear, written notice and confirm the rate/pay treatment upfront.

If you regularly change rosters, you should also be aware of the compliance issues around Shift Changes, because public holiday disputes often start with “I was told last minute”.

3. Use Fair Allocation (Not The Same People Every Time)

If the same tradies are always rostered on for public holidays, you may not only hurt morale - you can also make it harder to argue that rostering decisions are reasonable and non-discriminatory.

Consider a rotating system or opt-in expressions of interest for non-emergency work, while keeping capability and licensing requirements in mind.

4. If You Cancel A Public Holiday Shift, Think About Minimum Pay Rules

Sometimes you roster a public holiday job and the customer cancels, the site is closed, or the materials don’t arrive. If you cancel shifts at short notice, you may still owe payment (or minimum engagement) depending on the award, contract terms, and rostering commitments.

This is exactly why it’s important to have a clear Shift Cancellation Policy and to apply it consistently.

5. Keep Records (It’s Not Just Admin)

Public holidays are a common trigger point for underpayment claims because they involve higher rates and exceptions.

From a business-protection perspective, you should keep:

rosters (including changes)
timesheets and job logs
written confirmations of any substituted public holiday arrangements
payroll records showing the rate applied

Having documented processes around Employee Rostering can save you a lot of time and stress if a dispute ever arises.

What Else Should You Review As A Trade Business Owner?

Public holiday work rarely exists in isolation. It often overlaps with other employment law issues that trade businesses deal with daily.

On-Call, Call-Outs And Overtime

If your business runs an on-call roster, make sure you understand how your award/agreement treats:

on-call allowances
minimum call-out periods
travel time
fatigue management and WHS requirements

These details can change your cost base significantly on public holidays, especially when call-outs are short but frequent.

Breaks, Fatigue And Safety

Trade work is often physically demanding and can involve safety-critical tasks. If an employee is working longer hours (or working an unusual public holiday roster), you should also consider break entitlements and fatigue.

Getting the basics right on Fair Work Breaks is part of building a safer, more compliant workplace.

If Someone Leaves Or You End Employment Around A Public Holiday

Sometimes public holiday scheduling issues come up during resignations, stand-down periods, or when employment ends.

If employment ends and you’re paying out notice rather than having the employee work it, you may need to consider how Payment In Lieu Of Notice interacts with what would have been worked (including any planned shifts). It’s one of those areas where getting tailored advice early can prevent a messy final pay dispute later.

Key Takeaways

Whether tradies have to work on public holidays depends on the NES, the relevant award or enterprise agreement, the employment contract, and whether your request (or their refusal) is reasonable.
You can sometimes request employees to work on a public holiday, but it should be approached carefully - notice, business need, and personal circumstances all matter.
Public holiday pay can involve penalty rates or substituted days off, so budgeting and payroll accuracy are crucial.
Clear contracts, consistent rostering practices, and good records reduce disputes and help protect your business if an issue arises later.
If public holiday work is a regular part of your operations (especially for emergency or on-call tradie work), it’s worth setting expectations in writing and checking your award coverage.

If you’d like help setting up your trade business’ public holiday approach (including contracts, rostering practices, and compliance), you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.