Upcoming Public Holidays
In April and May, the following dates are public holidays:
- Good Friday – Friday 18 April
- Easter Saturday – Saturday 19 April
- Easter Sunday – Sunday 20 April
- Easter Monday – Monday 21 April
- Anzac Day – Friday 25 April
- Labour Day – Monday 5 May
The QHA’s 2025 Public Holidays Fact Sheet lists the 2025 public holiday dates, and is available by clicking HERE.
Regional Show Holidays are not listed above or in this Fact Sheet, and can instead be found on the Public Holidays page on the Queensland Government Justice and Attorney General website: http://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/travel/holidays/show/
Public Holidays Entitlement Guide
The QHA’s Guide on employee’s public holiday entitlements under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (‘’HIGA’) is available by clicking HERE.
If you have employees covered by a different modern award, enterprise agreement, or who are award or agreement free, the Employment Relations Department can provide advice on their entitlements.
Requesting Employees to work on a public holiday
When requesting an employee to work a public holiday, members must ensure their employees are provided with an opportunity to accept or refuse the request. The request to work on a public holiday has to be a question, not a direction.
For example
- Providing a draft roster to employees and allowing employees to indicate if they would accept or refuse the shift, or
- Making the request in the form of a question.
Under section 114(3) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (‘Act’), an employee may refuse a request to work on a public holiday, where the request is not reasonable or the refusal is reasonable. If you have an full-time or part-time employee who refuses the request to work a public holiday, members are encouraged to have discuss with the employee about their reasons for refusing the request. Section 114(4) of the Act sets out factors for consideration when determining whether a request or a refusal of a request are reasonable. Where employers have concerns regarding an employee’s refusal, the QHA can provide advice as to whether a direction to work the public holiday could be reasonable, taking into consideration the employee’s reasons for refusal, and the factors outlined in section 114(4) of the Act.
Please note that by virtue of the nature of casual employment, casuals can accept or reject shifts that are offered to them, which means that employers cannot direct a casual employee to work any shift that the casual does not want to do.
Queries
The QHA’s Employment Relations Department are available to assist with queries, please contact us on 07 3221 6999 or by emailing er@qha.org.au