No. Casual employees in Australia are not paid for public holidays they don’t work — but they are paid a public holiday penalty rate for every hour they do work. The reason is mechanical rather than philosophical: payment for a public holiday you’re absent on is tied to your ordinary hours, and casuals don’t have any.
That’s also why the answer changes the moment a casual is actually rostered on. The same employee who gets nothing for a Monday public holiday can be on 250% of the minimum hourly rate for the next one, depending entirely on the roster and the award.
Key Takeaways
- Section 116 of the Fair Work Act pays employees at their base rate for their ordinary hours on a public holiday. Its own note states a casual who isn’t rostered on has no entitlement to payment (Fair Work Ombudsman).
- Casuals who work a public holiday get the penalty rate in their award — for example 250% under the Retail Award and 225% under the Horticulture Award.
- Casual loading is already priced in. The 25% loading exists partly because casuals don’t get paid public holidays.
- Whether the penalty rate includes or is added to the loading varies by award. Getting this wrong is one of the most common casual payroll errors.
Why Casuals Aren’t Paid for Public Holidays They Don’t Work
Public holidays sit in the National Employment Standards. Section 116 of the Fair Work Act 2009 says that if an employee is absent from employment on a public holiday, the employer must pay them at their base rate of pay for their ordinary hours of work on that day.
The note to that section spells out the consequence: an employee is not entitled to payment if they don’t have ordinary hours of work on the public holiday, and it names two examples — a casual employee not rostered on, and a part-time employee whose part-time hours don’t include that day of the week.
Casual employment has no ordinary hours by definition. There is no guaranteed pattern of work to be absent from. So the entitlement never engages.
This isn’t a gap in the law. It’s the trade the system makes explicitly: casuals are excluded from paid leave and paid public holidays, and receive a 25% casual loading on their base hourly rate instead (Fair Work Ombudsman: casual employees). Our guide to casual employee leave rights in Australia breaks down exactly what that 25% is buying.
What Casuals Get Paid When They Do Work a Public Holiday
A different question with a much better answer. Public holiday penalty rates come from the modern award or enterprise agreement, and they are substantial.
| Award | Casual rate for public holiday work | Loading treatment |
|---|---|---|
| General Retail Industry Award | 250% of the minimum hourly rate | Inclusive of casual loading |
| Horticulture Award (hourly-paid casuals) | 225% of the ordinary hourly rate | Per the award’s own clause |
| Award-free casuals | No award penalty rate applies | Contract or NMW loading only |
Two rules do most of the work here.
1. Read whether the rate is inclusive or cumulative. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s guidance on how penalties and loadings interact explains that in most awards, both the casual loading and the penalty are calculated on the base pay rate and paid at the same time — but some awards state a single all-up percentage that already contains the loading. Adding 25% on top of a rate that already includes it overpays; treating a cumulative award as inclusive underpays.
For the permanent-employee side of the same question, see our guide to working on public holidays in Australia.
2. Check minimum engagement. Most awards set a minimum number of hours a casual must be paid for each time they’re engaged, commonly three or four hours. If a casual is called in for two hours on a public holiday, they’re generally paid the minimum engagement at the public holiday rate — not two hours.
Worked example: the same person, two public holidays
Bella is a casual retail assistant. Her minimum hourly rate is $26.55, and her casual loading brings her ordinary rate to $33.19.
Anzac Day — not rostered. She has no ordinary hours, so section 116 doesn’t apply. She’s paid $0.00, and nothing is deducted from anything, because casuals have no leave balance to draw on.
King’s Birthday — rostered for a 7-hour shift. The Retail Award pays casuals 250% of the minimum hourly rate for public holiday work, inclusive of the casual loading.
- 250% × $26.55 = $66.38 per hour
- 7 hours × $66.38 = $464.66
Compare that with a permanent part-time colleague on the same base rate who wasn’t rostered: she receives her base rate for her ordinary hours that day, roughly $186 for a 7-hour day, for staying home. Bella receives $464.66 for turning up, or nothing for staying home.
That contrast is the whole system in one line. Neither figure is generous or stingy in isolation; they’re two halves of the same trade.
Can a Casual Refuse to Work a Public Holiday?
Yes, potentially. The NES gives employees the right to be absent from work on a public holiday. An employer can request an employee to work, but the request must be reasonable — and the employee can refuse if the request is unreasonable, or if their refusal is reasonable (Fair Work Ombudsman: public holidays).
This right applies to casuals as well as permanents. What differs in practice is the leverage: a casual with no guaranteed hours has an obvious commercial reason not to say no. Employers should be aware that a pattern of reducing shifts after a lawful refusal is a poor look and can raise adverse action questions.
Relevant factors for reasonableness include the nature of the workplace, the employee’s personal circumstances including family responsibilities, how much notice was given, and whether the employee could reasonably expect the employer to ask.
What Changes If a Casual Converts to Permanent?
Everything, on this point. Once an employee becomes permanent part-time or full-time, they have ordinary hours — so section 116 engages, and they’re paid for public holidays falling on days they’d ordinarily work, whether or not the business opens.
They also stop receiving the 25% loading. For someone who works a lot of public holidays at penalty rates, conversion can mean less cash and more certainty. Run both numbers before deciding, rather than assuming permanency is automatically better paid.
Since 26 August 2024, the employee choice pathway replaced the old conversion scheme. Our comparison of full-time vs part-time leave entitlements in Australia covers what a converting casual actually gains.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a casual get paid if the business closes on a public holiday?
No. A casual who isn’t rostered has no ordinary hours on that day and no entitlement to payment. This is the single most common casual pay query around Easter and Christmas.
Does the casual loading get added on top of the public holiday penalty rate?
It depends on the award. Some awards state a single all-up percentage that already includes the 25% loading — the Retail Award’s 250% is one. Others calculate the loading and the penalty separately on the base rate and pay both. Check the award’s casual clause, not your payroll system’s default.
Do casuals accrue anything for public holidays?
No. There is no public holiday accrual, no day in lieu, and no substitute day for casuals under the NES. Some enterprise agreements provide more; the NES itself does not.
What about a casual rostered on a day that becomes a substituted public holiday?
Substitution rules are set by state and territory legislation and sometimes by the award. When a public holiday is substituted to another day, the penalty rate follows the substituted day. Our Australian public holidays employer guide lists the state-by-state substitution rules.
Are casuals entitled to any paid leave at all?
One kind. Paid family and domestic violence leave — 10 days per 12-month period — is available to every employee including casuals, from their first day. Everything else casuals get is unpaid or covered by the loading.
What This Means for You
If you employ casuals, the two things worth auditing are the inclusive-versus-cumulative question for every award you run, and your minimum engagement settings on public holiday shifts. Those two settings account for most casual public holiday underpayments, and both are silent failures — nobody notices until a Fair Work audit or a back-pay claim.
If you’re a casual, the practical takeaway is to check your award’s public holiday clause rather than your payslip’s headline rate. A payslip showing “casual ordinary” on a public holiday shift is a flag worth raising.
Leave Balance keeps regional public holiday calendars per employee and shows exactly who was rostered against each one, so working out who should have been paid what doesn’t start with reconstructing a roster from memory.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Check the modern award or enterprise agreement that applies to your workplace, or get advice from an employment lawyer.
leave emails? Track your employee's leave with Leave Balance
