Cambodia Public Holidays: 2026 Calendar and Pay Rules

Public holidays in Cambodia affect more than time off. They shape payroll timing, staffing plans, holiday premiums, and compliance records. You need the official calendar, but you also need to understand the nuances so employees are paid correctly and your team is ready for inspection.

Cambodia public holidays calendar 2026

Here are the official dates for 2026:

Cambodia public holiday basics

Here’s the breakdown:

• Paid days off. Cambodia’s public holidays are paid days off for employees covered by the Labour Law.
• Rotation is possible in limited cases. If your business cannot pause operations, you can rotate holiday schedules, but you still need a clear plan, employee communication, and records.
• Holiday work costs more. If employees work on a paid public holiday, you should budget for premium pay on top of the holiday pay they already receive.
• Sunday holidays do not move automatically. Public holidays that fall on a Sunday are not automatically moved to Monday under the amended Labour Law.

Paid holidays

A paid public holiday in Cambodia means the day should not reduce an employee’s wages. For monthly paid employees, the holiday is usually already built into the monthly salary, so payroll typically treats the day as paid time off with no separate deduction. For daily or hourly paid employees, you still need to make sure the worker receives pay for the holiday in line with the rules that apply to their wage setup and schedule.

Working on holidays

The issue that causes the most confusion is holiday work. In practice, the common compliance approach is that the employee keeps their holiday pay and also receives additional pay for working that day. That is why many payroll teams describe holiday work as double pay. In real payroll terms, you are not replacing the holiday entitlement. You are paying for work performed on a day that was already supposed to be paid time off.

Holiday overtime

Overtime on a public holiday is not the same as overtime on an ordinary working day. On a normal working day, daytime overtime is generally paid at 150% of the normal wage, and overtime worked from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. is generally paid at 200%. Weekly rest day work follows a different premium framework as well. Public holiday work should not be dropped into your regular overtime logic without first checking how the base holiday entitlement has already been handled.

It’s important to remember that weekly rest days and public holidays are different legal categories. A weekly rest day is part of the employee’s normal schedule. A public holiday is a paid statutory holiday announced for the year. If a public holiday lands on a Sunday or on a worker’s usual rest day, you still need to treat it as a public holiday first, then apply the holiday work rule if the employee works.

When Cambodia public holidays can be rotated or replaced

You can rotate public holidays when your business genuinely cannot stop operating. This usually comes up in hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, transport, security, utilities, logistics, and customer support environments that need continuity. The reason should be true operational necessity, not convenience.

Substitute days are more limited. They are not a default fix just because a holiday falls on a Sunday. Cambodia no longer automatically moves Sunday public holidays to Monday, and if someone works on the public holiday, that still triggers the holiday pay rules. A substitute day does not cancel the need to pay correctly for the holiday work.

Keep the arrangement simple and easy to audit. Put the schedule in writing, tell employees in advance, document who is scheduled to work, and retain the internal approvals behind the arrangement. If your setup falls within the current MLVT procedure for holiday work, use the required filing process through the Labour Automated Central Management System.

Cambodia public holiday compliance checklist for employers

Follow these steps for the best chance of success:

• Confirm the annual calendar early. Publish the holiday schedule for the year as soon as you lock it.
• Identify essential roles. Decide which teams actually need coverage during holidays and which do not.
• Get the right agreement. Obtain employee consent where required for holiday work and overtime.
• Use the required MLVT process. Submit requests through the Labour Automated Central Management System when the rules apply.
• Keep records inspection-ready. Store schedules, approvals, employee communications, and payroll support in one place.
• Show premiums clearly on payslips. Make public holiday pay and any holiday-work premium visible and easy to follow.

Payroll setup tips for Cambodia holiday pay and premium earnings

Start with a daily wage method that your payroll team can apply consistently. For monthly salaries, many teams convert the salary to a daily rate by dividing the monthly base salary by the number of paid working days in the payroll period. What matters most is consistency. Your employment contracts, timekeeping rules, and payroll configuration should all follow the same method.

In your payroll system, set up separate earnings codes so holiday treatment is easy to trace later.

• Public holiday pay code. Use this to track the paid day off itself when you need visibility by date or employee group.
• Holiday worked premium code. Use this for the additional amount paid when an employee works on the public holiday.
• Daytime and night overtime codes. Keep these separate so you do not mix 150% daytime overtime and 200% night overtime logic.

Employees who join or leave mid-month need extra attention. Prorate base salary under your normal payroll rules, then apply the holiday logic only to the portion of the period when the employee was actually employed. This is where avoidable errors show up fast, especially around Khmer New Year or Water Festival.

If you are building your process from scratch, our guides on payroll tax in Cambodia, hiring in Cambodia, and paid vacation days by country will help.

Common edge cases to watch for

Holiday falls on a Sunday

Don’t just assume you can move it to Monday. Since the Labour Law amendment, Sunday public holidays are not automatically replaced with another paid day off.

Public holiday overlaps with a weekly rest day

Treat the day as a public holiday first. If the employee works, apply the public holiday work rule rather than defaulting straight to weekly rest day logic.

Employee is on approved leave during a public holiday

Check your leave setup so you do not deduct from the employee’s leave balance for a day that is already a public holiday.

Business runs rotating shifts across provinces

Cambodia’s public holiday calendar is national, but your shift design, manager approvals, and payroll cutoffs still need to line up locally. Keep one calendar, one approval process, and one pay logic across all sites.

FAQs

Are public holidays paid in Cambodia?

Yes. Public holidays are paid days off for employees covered by the Labour Law.

If an employee works on a public holiday, do they get double pay?

That is the practical shorthand many payroll teams use. The employee generally keeps the paid holiday entitlement and also receives additional pay for working that day.

Can you replace a public holiday with another day off?

Sometimes, but only in limited operational situations where work cannot pause. You should document the arrangement clearly and not treat substitute days as a default rule.

Do public holidays move to Monday if they fall on a Sunday?

No. Cambodia no longer automatically moves Sunday public holidays to the next working day.

Do the dates change every year?

Some do. Lunar and festival-based dates, such as Visak Bochea, Pchum Ben, and the Water Festival, can shift, so you should confirm the official calendar each year.

How Pebl perfects holiday pay in Cambodia

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve got your sights set on Cambodia. Maybe you’ve even found the perfect talent. There’s a lot that needs to be taken care of before you can start hiring—researching taxes, finding experts in local labor law, finding a payroll processor, and more. It takes a lot of time and money. Wouldn’t it be great if there were an easier way?

With Pebl, there is.

Our EOR platform allows you to hire, pay, and manage employees in 185+ countries around the world without setting up your own local entity. That means your new talent starts in days, not months. We handle it all: onboarding, benefits, salary benchmarking, payroll, and compliance with all local regulations. Every public holiday, overtime or double time pay the law requires, we make sure it happens. All you have to do is stay focused on leading your team.

When you’re ready to do things the easy way, let us know.

This information does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal or tax advice and is for general informational purposes only. The intent of this document is solely to provide general and preliminary information for private use. Do not rely on it as an alternative to legal, financial, taxation, or accountancy advice from an appropriately qualified professional. The content in this guide is provided “as is,” and no representations are made that the content is error-free.

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