What rate should be paid when an employee works on a public holiday?

Employees are not required to work on a public holiday unless an agreement has been reached with the employer to work on that day. In instances where work is performed on public holidays, there must be a documented agreement signed by the employees. It is, however, a common practice in agriculture for public holidays to be exchanged for another day during a more suitable period. This arrangement should be documented, and any agreement reached with workers should be recorded. As far as possible, the day granted in exchange for the public holiday must be a normal working day, i.e. a day on which the workers would normally have worked. The public holiday may be exchanged with another day, only if agreed to by the majority of the workforce. Here are some examples of how to determine the payment for public holidays for the different situations:

1. If an employee does not work on a Wednesday (which is a normal working day, in accordance with agreement), and that Wednesday during any particular time of the year, is subject to a public holiday: the employee must be paid their normal daily rate. E.g., if an employee is contracted for 8 hours a day (ordinary hours) @ R21,69/h, the employee will be paid R173,52 for that day, because it is a public holiday and the employee does not have to work on such particular day. (SD13, Sec. 20(2)(a)).
2. If an employee works on a Wednesday (which is a normal working day, in accordance with agreement), and that Wednesday during any particular time of the year, is subject to a public holiday: the employee must agree to work on this day firstly and be paid double their daily wage for that day’s work, regardless of the number of hours worked. I.e., if an employee is contracted for 8 hours a day (ordinary hours) @ R21,69/h, the employee works for 5 hours on that day – the employee will be paid for 8 + 8 hours at R21,69/h = R347,04 for this day. (SD13, Sec. 20(2)(b)(i)).
3. If an employee works on a Saturday (which is not a normal working day, in accordance with agreement), and that Saturday during any particular time of the year, is subject to a public holiday: the employee must agree to work on this day firstly and be paid their normal daily wage, plus hours worked, e.g., the employee normally works 8 hours a day (ordinary hours) and on this particular day, works 4 hours. The employee will be remunerated at 8 + 4 hours at R21,69/h = R260,28. (SD13, Sec. 20(3)(a) & (b)).