Public holiday rostering: a clear request and response process
Public holiday planning should separate the need for cover, the request to an employee, their response and the applicable pay arrangements. Employees in the national workplace relations system have a right to be absent on a public holiday. Employers can request work when the request is reasonable, and employees can refuse on reasonable grounds or where the request is unreasonable.
Putting a name on a roster should not become a shortcut around that discussion. This guide helps small Australian employers organise the process and records before the holiday period.
Confirm the holiday and the work that needs cover
Check the public holiday applying where the employee is based, including any local, additional or substitute day. State and territory calendars can differ. Record the actual service or task needing cover and why it must occur then.
Do not start by assuming last year's roster will work again. Staff availability, ordinary hours, family responsibilities and the business's service needs may have changed. For care providers, continuity planning should address the participant's needs as well as staffing.
EJN-HR's outsourced HR page explains the process support available when the same administrative decisions recur each holiday season.
Make the request clear enough to answer
The Fair Work public holidays fact sheet sets out factors relevant to whether a request or refusal is reasonable. These include the nature of the work, the employee's personal circumstances, expected holiday work, employment type, extra payments and notice.
As an administrative approach, give the employee enough information to understand the request: the holiday, proposed hours, duties, location, reason for the request and a contact for questions. Explain the response process and leave time for discussion. A business deadline does not replace the need to consider reasonableness.
Keep sensitive personal explanations in restricted records. The roster coordinator may only need to know that the response requires manager review, rather than the details of an employee's caring responsibilities.
Record responses and resolve exceptions
Use a simple restricted request register with the following fields:
Employee and relevant role.
Holiday and proposed work.
Date and method of the request.
Response and any discussion needed.
Decision-maker and source checked.
Confirmed arrangement and payroll handover.
If an employee refuses, the authorised manager needs to assess the circumstances under the applicable rules. Do not treat refusal itself as misconduct or make an automatic disciplinary decision. Get workplace relations advice when the position is uncertain.
The Fair Work guidance on not working on public holidays explains the relationship between reasonable requests and refusals. It also sets out base-pay entitlements for eligible employees who would ordinarily work that day.
Have payroll check the confirmed arrangement
Payment depends on the employee's circumstances and the applicable award or agreement. Separate an employee working on a public holiday from one absent because of the holiday, one on annual leave and one who would not ordinarily work that day.
Ask the payroll contact to confirm the relevant rates, minimum engagements, ordinary hours and other applicable conditions. Do not copy one employee's result across the entire roster. Keep the checked source and approval with the payroll instruction.
This is also a useful moment to review document clarity. Our policy acknowledgement article explains why receiving a policy does not prove that someone understands the process.
A fictional example: two employees, different circumstances
A small service needs reception cover on a public holiday. The manager requests work from two employees and explains the proposed hours. One agrees; the other raises a caring responsibility that requires discussion.
The manager reviews the request and response instead of assuming both people have the same circumstances. Once cover is confirmed, payroll checks the arrangement for the employee doing the work. The public roster shows the final cover and contact route, while the private response record retains the relevant discussion.
The process avoids two common errors: turning a proposed roster into an assumed agreement, and sharing a personal explanation more widely than necessary.
Public holiday questions
Can employees refuse a request to work?
Yes, where they have reasonable grounds or the request is unreasonable. Assess the actual circumstances using current Fair Work guidance.
Does a public holiday always mean extra pay?
Pay depends on whether the employee works, their ordinary hours, employment type and applicable instrument. Have payroll check the specific arrangement.
Should personal reasons appear on the roster?
The roster normally needs the final coverage arrangement. Restrict personal information to those who need it to assess or administer the request.
Prepare a repeatable process
Choose an owner for requests, a decision-maker for exceptions and a payroll handover point. If that route is unclear, an EJN-HR health check or free 20-minute HR review can help identify the process gaps.
After the holiday, review one recurring problem and assign the next improvement. The 30-day people-process improvement plan provides a manageable way to test whether the revised process works.
General process education. Sources checked 12 October 2026. Use current Fair Work and jurisdiction-specific guidance and appropriate advice for individual entitlement decisions.
