Christmas Day falls on a Friday this year. Half your team is off, half is working the holiday shift. One of them has Friday as her rest day. You know she's owed more than the people who worked the regular holiday, but you can't remember the exact multiplier. Is it 2.00x? 2.60x? And what about the crew who didn't work? Do they still get paid?

Holiday pay in the Philippines depends on three things: the type of holiday, whether the team member worked, and whether it fell on their rest day. Here's the full breakdown for 2026.

Two types of holidays

The Philippines has two categories, and they follow very different pay rules.

Regular holidays are the major national holidays. Team members get paid even if they don't work (with conditions). If they work, they earn double.

Special non-working days are the secondary holidays. The default rule is no work, no pay. If the team member works, they get a 30% premium.

2026 Philippine holidays

Regular holidays

January 1 (Thursday), New Year's Day
April 2 (Thursday), Maundy Thursday
April 3 (Friday), Good Friday
April 9 (Thursday), Araw ng Kagitingan
May 1 (Friday), Labor Day
June 12 (Friday), Independence Day
August 31 (Monday), National Heroes Day
November 30 (Monday), Bonifacio Day
December 25 (Friday), Christmas Day
December 30 (Wednesday), Rizal Day
Eid'l Fitr (date TBD based on Islamic calendar)
Eid'l Adha (date TBD based on Islamic calendar)

Special non-working days

February 25 (Wednesday), EDSA People Power Anniversary
April 4 (Saturday), Black Saturday
August 21 (Friday), Ninoy Aquino Day
November 1 (Sunday), All Saints' Day
November 2 (Monday), All Souls' Day
December 8 (Tuesday), Feast of the Immaculate Conception
December 31 (Thursday), Last Day of the Year

The President may declare additional special non-working days throughout the year, sometimes with short notice.

Regular holiday pay rates

Scenario	Rate
Not worked (present day before)	100% of daily rate
Worked	200% of daily rate
Worked + rest day	260% of daily rate
Worked + overtime	260% of hourly rate per OT hour
Worked + rest day + overtime	338% of hourly rate per OT hour

The key rule: team members get paid their full daily rate even if they don't work on a regular holiday, as long as they were present (or on approved leave) the workday immediately before the holiday.

Special non-working day pay rates

Scenario	Rate
Not worked	No pay (unless company policy provides otherwise)
Worked	130% of daily rate
Worked + rest day	150% of daily rate
Worked + overtime	169% of hourly rate per OT hour
Worked + rest day + overtime	195% of hourly rate per OT hour

Example: regular holiday, worked

Maria earns ₱500/day. She works on Independence Day (a regular holiday).

Holiday pay: ₱500 x 2.00 = ₱1,000

If she also works 2 hours of overtime:

Hourly rate: ₱500 / 8 = ₱62.50 OT rate: ₱62.50 x 2.60 = ₱162.50/hour OT pay: ₱162.50 x 2 = ₱325.00 Total for the day: ₱1,000 + ₱325.00 = ₱1,325.00

Example: special holiday on a rest day, worked

Juan earns ₱500/day. Ninoy Aquino Day falls on his rest day, and he works.

Base pay: ₱500 x 1.50 = ₱750

If he works 1 hour of overtime:

OT rate: ₱62.50 x 1.95 = ₱121.88/hour Total: ₱750 + ₱121.88 = ₱871.88

The "day before" rule

For regular holidays, the team member must have been present or on approved leave the workday immediately before the holiday to receive unworked holiday pay. If someone was absent without approval the day before Christmas, you can withhold the Christmas Day pay.

This means your attendance records for the days surrounding each regular holiday matter. It's one of the most commonly overlooked rules in Philippine payroll.

Double holidays

Occasionally, the government declares two holidays on the same date. When a regular holiday and a special non-working day land on the same day, the rates add up. A team member who works on a double holiday earns 200% + 30% = 230% of their daily rate.

Timekeep holiday calendar showing regular and special holidays

How Timekeep handles holiday pay

Timekeep has the Philippine holiday calendar built in and updates it when new holidays are declared. You can also add business-specific holidays. When a holiday falls on a workday, the system applies the correct multiplier based on whether the team member worked and whether it was their rest day. All the stacking combinations, including rest day overlaps and overtime, are computed automatically.

Every holiday, every rate, handled

That Christmas Friday shift with the rest day overlap? It's 2.60x, and now you don't have to remember that. Set up your holiday calendar once, and the correct rate shows up on every payslip, every cutoff.

Try it free for 30 days at timekeep.ph. No credit card required.