Philippines Public Holidays: 2026 Dates and Pay Rules

If you are hiring in the Philippines, holiday pay is one of those payroll details you want to get right early. The holiday itself matters, but the classification matters even more. A regular holiday, a special non-working day, and a special working day can all show up in the same calendar year and lead to very different payroll outcomes.

For 2026, that matters because the national holiday list comes from the government’s annual proclamation, while some dates, including Islamic holidays, can still be declared separately later in the year. That means your payroll team needs to check the holiday type first, then apply the pay rule that matches it.

2026 Philippines public holidays calendar

Always check official government sources like the 2026 nationwide holiday proclamation for accuracy.

The basics

Your payroll team will usually see three versions of holidays:

• Regular holidays. The default assumption is paid time off when the employee does not work, subject to eligibility rules. If the employee works, you pay a higher holiday rate.
• Special non-working days. The default assumption is no-work-no-pay unless your company policy, established practice, or collective bargaining agreement pays it. If the employee works, you pay a premium rate.
• Special working days. These are treated like regular working days unless you voluntarily offer extra pay or time off.

That is where employers can get tripped up. You can’t just tag everything as a public holiday in payroll and hope for the best. You need the right holiday code, the right rest-day setting, and a clear internal policy for any extra paid time off you decide to offer. If your wider leave strategy spans multiple countries, our guide to paid vacation days by country can help you compare what is statutory versus what is simply company policy.

Regular holiday pay in the Philippines

Keep this part simple.

• If your employee does not work. Pay 100% of the daily wage if they are eligible. Eligibility commonly depends on whether they were present, or on paid leave, on the day immediately before the holiday. If that day was itself a rest day or non-working day, you look to the last working day before it.
• If your employee works. Pay 200% of the daily wage for the first eight hours.
• If your employee works overtime on a regular holiday. Add 30% of the hourly rate on top of the holiday hourly rate for hours beyond eight.

Special non-working day pay

This is where companies often overpay or underpay by mistake. 

• If your employee does not work. No-work-no-pay applies unless your policy, established practice, or CBA pays the day.
• If your employee works. Pay 130% of the daily wage for the first eight hours.
• If your employee works overtime on a special non-working day. Add 30% of the hourly rate on top of the special-day hourly rate for hours beyond eight.

Rest day pay

This is where most payroll questions come from. If payroll timing across markets is already a challenge for your team, a clear payroll calendar can help you spot cutoffs, pay dates, and holiday pressure points earlier.

• Working on a regular holiday that is also a rest day. Add 30% on top of the 200% holiday rate.
• Working on a special non-working day that is also a rest day. Use the higher special-day-plus-rest-day premium for the first eight hours.

If your teams run shifting schedules, this is the part worth documenting carefully. A holiday falling on Sunday is not the real issue; a holiday falling on that employee’s assigned rest day is.

Substitute days and time off in lieu for holiday work

If you are looking for an automatic substitute day, you usually will not find one in the standard holiday rules.

Many employers offer a substitute day or time off in lieu as a policy choice, especially for teams that need holiday coverage. That can work well, but only if you define it clearly.

• Who qualifies.
• Whether it replaces premium pay or is in addition to premium pay.
• The expiry window for using the substitute day.

Who is covered and how basic wage affects holiday pay

Holiday premiums are usually computed from the employee’s basic wage. In practice, your payroll outcome can still vary if you have a collective bargaining agreement with better benefits, a company policy that pays special days, or role-based schedules where rest days move from week to week. This is one reason many employers rely on global payroll support as local wage rules become more nuanced.

This is also where broader leave and pay practices start to connect. If you are comparing paid time off across markets, it might help to see how paid vacation days by country vary from one jurisdiction to the next.

Holiday pay checklist 

A clean setup leads to clean, repeatable results.

• Confirm the official list for the year. Include any late proclamations, especially for Islamic holidays.
• Tag each holiday correctly in payroll. Regular holiday, special non-working day, or special working day.
• Check employee eligibility for paid regular holidays.
• Apply the right premium for holiday work, overtime, and rest-day overlaps.
• Document your substitute-day policy. Only if you offer one.
• Keep proof of wage computations. That matters for audit readiness and employee questions.

Common holiday pay scenarios 

You should expect to see these situations:

• Your employee does not work on a regular holiday. If they are eligible, pay100% of the daily wage.
• Your employee works eight hours on a regular holiday. Pay 200% of the daily wage for that day.
• Your employee works on a special non-working day. Pay 130% of the daily wage for the first eight hours.
• Your employee works on a holiday that is also their rest day. Apply the holiday premium plus the extra rest-day premium.

How an Employer of Record (EOR) can help

An employer of record is a third party that legally employs your team member in the Philippines on your behalf. This allows you to hire without establishing a local entity, avoiding the hidden costs of entity establishment. 

The EOR handles salary offers, employment contracts, payroll, tax withholding, statutory benefits, and all ongoing compliance. You manage the day-to-day work normally while the EOR takes care of just about everything else.

For employers testing the market, or those who need to scale quickly, an EOR is usually the right choice. You get to reduce risk, move faster, and know all local laws and regulations will be followed.

Pebl helps handle holiday pay in the Philippines

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve got your sights set on the Philippines. 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 a lot of 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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