Anzac Day is commemorated on April 25 each year as a tribute to more than two million Australians who’ve served in war and peacekeeping operations.

That date is always the same. But how it’s marked as a public holiday varies between states and territories when it falls on a weekend, as it does this year.

Some Australians will get an extra day off as a result, while millions of others won’t.

That can be confusing for employees, and creates a rostering headache for employers operating across states and territories, such as in hospitality, retail, health, transport and other essential services.

Whether you’re an employee or an employer, here’s what you need to know about workers’ rights to paid time off.

Do you get a bonus day off?

People often assume public holidays such as Anzac Day are automatic “days off”. However, the rules under Australian employment law are a bit more complicated.

As Anzac Day falls on a Saturday in 2026, there are different rules across Australia about how it’s marked as a public holiday.

A bonus day: NSW, Western Australia and the ACT all have a public holiday on April 25, 2026. But they’ve also declared an additional public holiday on Monday, April 27. If you’re rostered to work on that Saturday or Monday, both of those days count as public holidays in NSW, WA and the ACT.

Just one day: Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory will observe Anzac Day only on Saturday April 25. If you work in a Monday-Friday job, unfortunately this means you won’t get an Anzac Day holiday this year.

Those variations have direct implications for people’s entitlements to leave and penalty rates.

Public holiday pay rules

If a public holiday such as Anzac Day falls on a day a permanent employee would normally work, they are entitled to:

be absent from work on a public holiday

and be paid their base rate of pay for ordinary hours that would have been worked on that day.

But if you’re not rostered onto work on a public holiday (including if you’re a part-timer or casual, whose hours don’t fall on the public holiday), you won’t get paid for that day.

Can employees refuse to work?

Let’s say you’re a nurse, rostered on for Saturday, April 25, which is a public holiday right across Australia, or on Monday, April 27, if you’re in NSW, WA or the ACT.

If your employer asks you to work then, do you have to agree? And, if you do agree, do you get extra pay?

Under the national Fair Work Act, employers cannot require an employee to work on a public holiday. Employers are allowed to ask, but it has to be a “reasonable request”.

Likewise, an employee may refuse a request to work on a public holiday if their refusal is “reasonable”.

Whether a request (or refusal) is reasonable depends on the circumstances. The Fair Work Act identifies various factors that can be taken into account, including:

the employer’s operational requirements (such as if the business must operate that day)

the employee’s role and seniority

the employee’s personal circumstances, such as caring responsibilities, religious observance or cultural significance

whether the employee will receive additional compensation, including penalty rates or time off in lieu

and whether the employee was given adequate notice.

A failure to properly assess or document these factors can expose employers to disputes, underpayment claims and even legal action.

Extra rights under awards

Beyond that national law, it’s important to know your rights if you (or your staff) are also covered by an award or enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA).

These can impose additional or stricter obligations, such as higher penalty rates on public holidays, or additional rostering and consultation requirements.

For employees, that can be good news, as it can mean more pay. But this can significantly increase an employer’s costs for public holiday work.

Substitute a public holiday

Many Australian workers are covered by awards and EBAs that permit workers to substitute a public holiday with another day off work.

Substitution can be particularly useful where operational continuity is required on Anzac Day, such as hospitals that run 24/7, or when employees might prefer to take a different day off.

For example, let’s say you work in NSW, where you get a second public holiday on Monday, April 27, this year.

If you would prefer to take Friday, April 24, off instead, you can ask your employer to substitute the public holiday. If the employer agrees — and the relevant award or agreement allows it — Friday can be treated as your public holiday, and Monday becomes an ordinary working day.

Even if you’re not covered by an award or agreement, employers may voluntarily agree to substitute the holiday. But you need to ask as soon as possible and document anything you both agree.

For employers with staff across Australia, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to this year’s Anzac Day public holidays.

That makes early planning and clear communication from both employers and employees even more important – well before April 25.

Giuseppe Carabetta is Associate Professor of Workplace and Business Law at the University of Technology Sydney.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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