Holiday Pay Philippines - Sample Calculations, DOLE Guidelines and FAQs (2023)

Holiday Pay Philippines is pay given to an employee for any unworked regular holiday or additional pay given to an employee if work was done on that day.

I discuss:

• DOLE Holiday Pay Guidelines: What is it and who is entitled to it
• How to compute Holiday Pay
• 6 FAQs

Understanding Holiday Pay helps you avoid misunderstandings with your employer, although there are certainly instances where filing a case with one of our Philippine Labor Lawyers does help.

Holiday Pay Philippines: What is it?

Holiday Pay in the Philippines is a benefit given by the state to labor.

It is given for 2 reasons:

• to prevent diminution of the monthly income of the workers on account of work interruptions
• to allow the worker to participate in national celebrations held during the days identified with great historical and cultural significance (Asian Transmission Corporation vs. CA, G.R. No. 144664, 15 March 2004)

It applies to most – but not all – employees.

It is the payment of a worker’s daily wage for any unworked holiday, and it is a usually twice the amount of an employee’s regular pay if worked.

Who is entitled to Holiday Pay in the Philippines?

Most employees are entitled to Holiday Pay in the Philippines, with the following exceptions.

• Government employees, including those employed in government owned or controlled entities
• Retail/Service establishments with less than 10 workers
• Those in the personal service of another
• Managerial employees who primarily have management responsibilities, direct 2 or more employees or who have hiring and firing authority
• Members of managerial staff whose work is 80% related to management policies, assisting management and who exercise discretion and judgement
• Field personnel who are unsupervised including those on task, contract or commission basis or those paid a fixed amount regardless of time consumed.

The above are based on DOLE Holiday Pay Rules, so check closely to see if you fall under one of these categories.

If you do, then you are not entitled to Holiday Pay.

If you do not, then you should be receiving Holiday Pay from your employer.

Clarify the with your employer your eligibility with regard to Overtime pay or contact us for Labor Law consultations.

Holiday Pay Calculation Philippines: Formulas and Explanations

The Holiday Pay Calculation in the Philippines is 100% of your daily wage if unworked and 200% of your daily wage if worked.

However, you may receive more than that if you worked overtime, on the nightshift, on special days or have other premium pay.

I’ll list down how to compute Regular Holiday Pay, Special Non Working Day Pay and Double Holiday Pay in the next sections.

Holiday Pay Philippines: Regular Holidays

Regular Holidays are those that are generally have a fixed date – with the exception of Maudy Thursday, Black Friday and El id Fatir – and are announced before the year starts.

For 2022, the Regular Holidays were:

• New Year’s Day – January 1 (Sat)
• Araw ng Kagitingan – April 9 (Sat)
• Maundy Thursday – April 14
• Good Friday – April 15
• Labor Day – May 1 (Sun)
• Eid’l Fitr (Feast of Ramadhan) – May 3 (Tue)
• Independence Day – June 12 (Sun)
• Eid’l Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) – July 9 (Sat)
• National Heroes Day – August 29 (Mon)
• Bonifacio Day – November 30 (Wed)
• Christmas Day – December 25 (Sun)
• Rizal Day – December 30

Regular Holiday Pay Calculation (Sample Computation)

Your regular holiday pay increases depending on whether you worked or not.

It will also increase if that was your Rest Day, as well as whether there was Overtime or if you were on the Night Shift.

Remember that Overtime Pay applies for work done after your regular work hours.

Also remember that Night Shift Differential is applied on work done from 10pm to 6am for private employees.

Please check the Overtime Pay in the Philippines article and the Night Shift Pay for the Philippines for details (eligibility, etc).

Here is how to compute holiday pay for all scenarios that for Regular Holidays based on the DOLE Holiday Pay Guidelines.

• If unworked: 1 or 100%
• If worked: 2 or 200%
• If worked on a rest day: 2.6 or 260%
• If worked on the night shift: 2 x 1.1 = 2.2 or 220%
• If worked on a rest day and night shift: 2.6 x 1.1 = 2.86 or 286%
• If worked with overtime: 2 x 1.3 = 2.6 or 260%
• If worked on a rest day and overtime: 2.6 x 1.3 = 3.36 or 338%
• If worked on night shift and overtime = 2 x 1.1 x 1.3 = 2.86 or 286%
• If worked on a rest day, night shift and overtime = 2.6 x 1.1 x 1.3 = 3.71 or 371.8%

Let’s do a sample calculation.

Say I earn 800 pesos a day or 100 per hour.

I worked on a Regular Holiday from 3pm to 12 midnight with a 1 hour break from 7pm to 8pm for dinner.

My Regular Holiday Pay Calculation is:

3pm to 7pm: 4 hours * 2 * 100 pesos = 800 pesos

8pm to 10pm: 2 hours * 2 * 100 pesos = 400 pesos

10pm to 12am: 2 hours * 2 * 1.1 *100 pesos = 440 pesos

My total Regular Holiday pay is 1,640 pesos.

Holiday Pay Philippines: Special Non Working Days

A Special Holiday is declared because of an unusual event such as when the Philippines is hosting the ASEAN.

A Special Holiday might be declared by the president or Congress.

It is not usually announced the year before.

There are 2 types of Special Holiday:

1. Special Working Holiday
2. Special Non-Working Holiday

There is no additional pay if you work on a Special Working Holiday.

Only if you work on a Special Non Working Holiday do you get additional pay.

Special Non-Working Day Calculation (with Example)

DOLE Holiday Pay Guidelines for Special Non-Working Holidays:

• If unworked, no pay
• If worked: 1.3 or 130%
• If worked on a rest day: 1.5 or 150%
• If worked on the night shift: 1.3 x 1.1 = 1.43 or 143%
• If worked on a rest day and on the night shift: 1.5 x 1.1 = 1.65 or 165%
• If worked on overtime: 1.3 x 1.3 = 1.69 or 169%
• If worked on a rest day and on overtime: 1.5 x 1.3 = 1.95 or 195%
• If worked on night shift and overtime = 1.3 x 1.1 x 1.3 = 2.145 or 214.5%
• If worked on a rest day, night shift and overtime = 1.5 x 1.1 x 1.3 = 2.145 or 215.5%

Let’s do an example of a Special Non-Working Holiday Pay Calculation.

Let’s pretend you are a call center agent working on a Special Non-Working Holiday that falls on your rest day with 2 hours of overtime.

Your regular pay is 800 pesos or 100 pesos an hour.

For your regular 8 hour shift, you would earn:

1.5 * 800 for 8 hours of work = 1,200 pesos

For your 2 hours of overtime, you would earn:

1.5* 1.3 * 100 * 2 hours = 390 pesos

You would earn 1,590 pesos in total.

Holiday Pay Philippines: Double Holidays

Double Holidays happen when 2 holidays happen to fall on the same day.

This happens because some holidays have moveable dates – for example, Maudy Thursday and Good Friday.

These holidays sometimes end up on the same day as Araw ng Kagitingan for example.

When that happens, you have a Double Holiday.

Double Holiday Pay Rules DOLE (with calculation)

How to compute Holiday Pay for Double Holidays:

• If worked: 3 or 300%
• If worked on a rest day: 3.9 or 390%
• If worked on the night shift: 3 x 1.1 = 3.3 or 330%
• If worked on a rest day and night shift: 3.9 x 1.1 = 4.29 or 429%
• If worked with overtime: 3 x 1.3 = 3.9 or 390%
• If worked on a Rest Day with overtime: 3.9 x 1.3 = 5.07 or 507%
• If worked on night shift and overtime = 3 x 1.1 x 1.3 = 4.29 or 429%
• If worked on a rest day, night shift and overtime = 3.9 x 1.1 x 1.3 = 5.577 or 557.7%

To calculate your Double Holiday Pay, let’s do an example.

Maria works on a Double Holiday on the nightshift.

Her pay is 800 for a regular 8 hour shift.

Her calculation is:

3 * 1.1 * 800 pesos = 2,640

Her total pay is 2,640 pesos.

Holiday Pay Philippines: FAQs

Do you have to work the day before the Holiday to get Holiday Pay?

The DOLE pay rules before and after a Holiday can confuse people, but it’s fairly easy to understand.

• If you are on leave of absence with pay the day before the regular holiday, you are entitled to Holiday Pay.
• If you are on leave of absence without pay the day before the regular holiday, you are not entitled to Holiday Pay.
• If you are absent the day before 2 holidays like Maudy Thursday and Good Friday, you will not be paid for both holidays. However, if you work on the first holiday, you can receive pay for the second holiday.
• If the day before the holiday is a rest day and you worked the day before the rest day, you are entitled to holiday pay.

These are DOLE Holiday Pay Rules and are basically put in so that people still report to work on the days before the holiday to maintain discipline.

So, the answer to do you have to work the day before a holiday is yes (with the one exception on if you are on leave on absence with pay the day fore the holiday).

Are probationary employees entitled to holiday pay in the Philippines?

Yes, probationary employees are entitled to holiday pay in the Philippines.

There is nothing in the labor code that discriminates against probationary employees so they are also entitled to holiday pay – but only if they are eligible for holiday pay.

Are daily paid employees entitled to holiday pay in the Philippines?

Daily paid employees are entitled to holiday pay in the Philippines.

So yes, daily paid employees will also have this benefit.

Remember that there is no holiday pay for certain types of employees and that there is no pay for unworked special non-working holidays.

Are non-regular employees entitled to holiday pay in the Philippines?

So long as you do not fall under one of the exempt employee types, you will have holiday pay even if you are a non-regular employee.

Again, there is no holiday pay for an unworked special non-working holiday.

Can an employer refuse to pay holiday pay?

An employer should pay holiday pay in the Philippines so long as the employee is eligible.

Is Holiday Pay taxed in the Philippines?

The first 250,000 of your income is not taxed.

However, anything over that amount is taxed.