Event Timing Considerations

Can an employer require someone to work on a public holiday? This issue was fleshed out last year by the full Federal Court in CFMMEU v OS MCAP Pty Ltd.  Let's take a look at how it works. One of the National Employment Standards is that an employee is entitled to be absent from work on a public holiday. However, an employer can request an employee to work on a public holiday if the request is reasonable. An employee can refuse the request if either: 👉 the request is not reasonable; or 👉 the refusal is reasonable. There are eight factors that need to be taken into account when determining whether a request, or refusal of a request, is reasonable. They include the employer’s operational requirements, the nature of the employee’s work, whether public holiday work could be expected, the employee’s personal circumstances, whether the employee is entitled to adequate pay for working on a public holiday, whether they are full-time, part-time, casual or a shiftworker, and the amount of advance notice given. As you can see, this is a case-by-case thing. The key word is “request” which, the full Federal Court pointed out, is very different to “require”. It means that an employer does actually need to request an employee to work on a public holiday. It can’t just direct them to work or roster them on without asking. They have to ask and leave room for discussion, negotiation and a possible refusal by the employee. After doing this the employer can require an employee to work on a public holiday if the request is reasonable and any refusal by the employee is unreasonable.   This creates a practical headache for employers who regularly roster employees to work on public holidays. This was brought to the court’s attention but it had little sympathy. It said that, "all that is required is that an employer ensures that employees understand either that the roster is in draft requesting those employees who have been allocated to the holiday work that they indicate whether they accept or refuse that allocation, or where a request is made before the roster is finalised." Similarly, it could be unlawful for an employer to have a clause in a contract or enterprise agreement that requires an employee to work on public holidays. The court did say that a contract could foreshadow that the employee may be asked to work on public holidays and may be required to do so where the request is reasonable and a refusal unreasonable. That is, the clause would need to leave room for the employee to refuse public holiday work if reasonable. How do you approach working on public holidays? Let us know in the comments 👇 ♻️  Please repost this if it would help others. ________ 👋  I do weekly posts like this with insights, tips and updates to help you successfully manage your workplace. Tap the 🔔 at the top of my profile (Sean Melbourne) to be sure you get them. #humanresources #management #employmentlaw #HR #law

Public Holiday Replacement Clarification 🇲🇾 (30 May – 4 Jun 2026) Since my previous post on Federal Territory Day 2026 went viral, ramai are now asking the same question for Wesak Day + Agong’s Birthday + Harvest Festival + Hari Gawai 2026. Yes, the same situation is happening again. So let me clarify so workers and bosses can plan ahead and minimise business disruption. Assumptions: • Company recognises all gazetted Public Holidays (FYI, Wesak Day is not a compulsory PH) • Sunday is the Rest Day (7th day of the work week, may vary for different states, roles and, industries) Relevant Labour Laws: • Section 60(D)(1)(b) of the Employment Act 1955  • Section 103(1)(b) of the Sabah Labour Ordinance • Section 104(1)(b) of the Sarawak Labour Ordinance All say the same thing: If any public holiday falls on a Rest Day or another Public Holiday, the working day immediately following shall be a paid holiday replacing the first-mentioned public holiday. This is the flow: 📍 Sabah & Labuan: 30 May 2026 (Sat) – Harvest Festival Day 1 👉 Since this is not a Rest Day (6th Day), no replacement is mandatory. 31 May 2026 (Sun) – Harvest Festival Day 2 + Wesak Day + Rest Day 👉 Two PHs fall on Rest Day, so Rest Day takes precedence. 👉 PHs will be replaced on the next available working days. 1 Jun 2026 (Mon) – Agong’s Birthday 👉 Public Holiday (BAU) 2 Jun 2026 (Tue) 👉 Replacement for Harvest Festival Day 2 (next available working day) 3 Jun 2026 (Wed) 👉 Replacement for Wesak Day (next available working day) 4 Jun (Thu) 👉 BACK TO WORK 📍 Sarawak: 31 May 2026 (Sun) – Wesak Day + Rest Day 👉 PH falls on Rest Day, so Rest Day takes precedence. 👉 PH will be replaced on the next available working day. 1 Jun 2026 (Mon) – Agong’s Birthday + Hari Gawai Day 1 👉 Two PHs fall on the same day, one will take place. 👉 The other PH to be replaced on next available working day. 2 Jun 2026 (Tue) – Hari Gawai Day 2 👉 Public Holiday (BAU) 3 Jun 2026 (Wed) 👉 Replacement for Wesak Day (next available working day) 4 Jun 2026 (Thu) 👉 Replacement for Agong’s Birthday/Hari Gawai Day 1 (next available working day) 5 Jun 2026 (Fri)  👉 BACK TO WORK 📍 Semenanjung Malaysia: 31 May 2026 (Sun) – Wesak Day + Rest Day 👉 PH falls on Rest Day, so Rest Day takes precedence. 👉 PH will be replaced on the next available working day. 1 Jun 2026 (Mon) – Agong’s Birthday  👉 Public Holiday (BAU) 2 Jun 2026 (Tue)  👉 Replacement for Wesak Day (next available working day) 3 Jun 2026 (Wed) 👉 BACK TO WORK Hope this helps everyone plan your long weekend properly. Also, a gentle reminder, before you purchase flight tickets, please get approval first ya. Jangan2 nanti sudah beli ticket, then leave rejected because not enough manpower, susah nanti. Happy weekend everybody! xoxoxo, AuntyHR

𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔? I’ve been looking for a case that addresses this specific question. Fortunately, I came across a recent Industrial Court award that deals with this. The Employment Act 1955 doesn’t say “working days” when it comes to sick leave. In practice, we know employees don’t usually apply for “MC” (sick leave) on days they are not scheduled to work. But hospitalisation leave is different - it’s given over a longer, continuous stretch of time. So the question is: should weekends and public holidays in that period be counted? In the recent Award, the employee argued that hospitalisation leave (HL) should be calculated based on working days only. The employer disagreed, as they counted all calendar days in the hospitalisation period, including weekends and public holidays. The Industrial Court sided with the employer: ✅ The law does not state that hospitalisation leave only means working days. The Court interpreted HL to include weekends and public holidays, especially when the medical certificate states a continuous period (e.g. 1–30 June); ✅ This is consistent with Section 60F(3) of the Employment Act, which provides that an employee shall be deemed to have received his sick leave pay if he receives his monthly wages without abatement for the days on which he was on sick leave. ✅ The Court held: “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦.” ✅ Further, the Company’s handbook stated that HL includes weekends and public holidays, and this had always been the case for all employees. As such, based on past practice, this can also be implied into the terms of employment. On the separate issue of whether the employer could unilaterally use the employee’s annual leave to offset excess hospitalisation leave, the Court found that while this was a breach, it was not a fundamental one. There was no monetary loss to the employee since had annual leave not been used, the employee would have been placed on unpaid leave instead. This Award is helpful in clarifying and confirming common workplace practices.  It's good to have a decision that deals with this practical issue in detail. NB: Employers should also keep in mind Section 60D(1B) of the Employment Act when sick leave overlaps with public holidays (This was not in issue for the case and was therefore not addressed in the Award) Details of the Award in the comments below. #humanresources #hr #employmentlaw #employmentlawyer #malaysia #sickleave #medicalleave

PPH ON A SUNDAY? THEN THE MONDAY IS ALSO A PPH: HOW DOES PAYMENT WORK? Randfontein Estates Limited vs. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) JA29/06 Nov 2007 revolves around the interpretation of the Public Holidays Act. Background The dispute arose when Workers' Day (1st May) fell on a Sunday in 2005. According to the Act, if a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is also a public holiday. The LAC held that when a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is a public holiday in addition to the Sunday. This means that both the Sunday and the Monday are considered paid public holidays. Court's Finding on Public Holiday Observance The court emphasized that the observance of a public holiday is tied to the date itself. Therefore, if a public holiday is legislated to be observed on a specific date and that date falls on a Sunday, the public holiday is observed on that date, and the employees are entitled to be paid for not working on that Sunday. Additionally, the Monday following the Sunday is also treated as a public holiday, granting employees another day of paid leave. Implications for Employers Employers must recognize both days as public holidays and remunerate employees accordingly. If employees do not work on these days, they should be paid the wage they would ordinarily have received. If employees work on these days, they must be paid at least double the amount they would ordinarily have received for work on those days. To summarize, the court's decision clarifies that: •Sunday (the actual public holiday) is observed and paid as a public holiday. •Monday (the day following the public holiday that fell on a Sunday) is also observed and paid as an additional public holiday.

How do you run townhalls in a global company? You’ve got employees in the US, in India, in Ireland, in New Zealand. When some people are having their morning coffee, some are on their lunch break and others are asleep in the dead of night. So how do you have a live townhall for all employees? This conversation came up recently in The Curious Tribe and I thought I’d share some different approaches that companies are using: ➡️ Run two live sessions on the same day, timed to catch different regions. It works for reach, but it's hard work for presenters who have to do the whole thing twice. ➡️ Host one live session plus a separate Q&A session. You run the main presentation at a time that suits the majority of employees, then run a shorter leadership Q&A later to catch the region that got left out. ➡️ Rotate the timing so that different time zones get the live event in turn. The con of this approach is that there's no consistent time to build a habit around. ➡️ Pick one "least-bad" slot and commit to it. If it's only quarterly, people may forgive an early start or a late finish. ➡️ Host local watch parties where teams gather to watch the recording together. Suddenly the replay isn't a lonely catch-up, it's a social thing, this can work where there's an in-office culture. ➡️ Opt for fewer global events altogether, maybe just two per year, and in between you have local leaders showing up at regional sessions instead. The common theme that emerged from the conversation was that it’s impossible to please everyone when planning these events. There's also no "right" way to do this, there's just what works for your context, your culture, your company. This is why experimenting and evaluation is so important. Try something, see if it works for you and be willing to bin it if it doesn't. How do you run townhalls in your company? –––– 🚫 Don’t let an algorithm decide what you read; join 11,000+ readers who get my weekly internal comms tips straight to their inbox. ⬆️ Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/ez3_eq4c

📌 Understanding Public Holidays in Labour Laws. Congratulations, Pakistan! Today is a Public Holiday across the country. Let’s discuss the rules and laws governing Public Holidays as defined in various Labour Laws of Pakistan. ✅ Public Holidays, Festival Holidays, and Gazette Holidays are different names for the same holidays and can be used interchangeably. ✅ In labour laws, these holidays are termed Festival Holidays under: 🔹 Section 49-I of the Factories Act 1934 🔹 Section 80 of the Factories Act 2015 ✅ All Festival Holidays are fully paid holidays. 📌 Key Rights of Employees on Public Holidays ❌ No salary deduction can be made for public holidays. ❌ No leave application is required for a public holiday. ❌ No deduction from leave balances for a public holiday. 📌 Working on Public Holidays & Overtime Pay Employees working on public holidays are entitled to additional wages at one of the following rates: 🔹 Option A: Overtime at 3× the normal daily wage (No compensatory leave) 📍 Unskilled (Salary: Rs. 37,000/month) 💰 Daily Wage = Rs. 1,423 💰 Overtime for Public Holiday = Rs. 4,269 📍 Skilled (Salary: Rs. 60,000/month) 💰 Daily Wage = Rs. 2,308 💰 Overtime for Public Holiday = Rs. 6,924 📍 Highly Skilled Employee (Salary: Rs. 100,000/month) 💰 Daily Wage = Rs. 3,846 💰 Overtime for Public Holiday = Rs. 11,538 🔹 Option B: Overtime at 2× the rate + 1 compensatory leave 📍 Unskilled Worker: Rs. 2,846 + 1 leave 📍 Skilled Worker: Rs. 4,616 + 1 leave 📍 Highly Skilled Employee: Rs. 7,692 + 1 leave 🔹 Option C: 1 Additional Day’s Pay + 2 Compensatory Leaves 📍 Unskilled Worker: Rs. 1,423 + 2 leaves 📍 Skilled Worker: Rs. 2,308 + 2 leaves 📍 Highly Skilled Employee: Rs. 3,846 + 2 leaves 📌 Additional Rules for Public Holidays ✅ If a Public Holiday falls on a Weekly Holiday (Sunday), Public Holiday laws will apply. ✅ If the Federal Government declares a Public Holiday, no separate notification from provincial governments is required. ✅ If a Provincial Government increases the number of Public Holidays, organizations within that province must follow the provincial notification. ✅ A Provincial Government cannot reduce public holidays declared by the Federal Government. 💬 If you have any further questions, please ask in the comments! 🔄 Sharing is Caring 🇵🇰 Long Live Pakistan! ✍️ Imran Shahid Founder: Institute for Education of Labour Laws of Pakistan Easy Labour Laws | 23rd March 2025

Lately, there's been growing debate surrounding Section 60D(1B) of the Employment Act 1955 — particularly the substitution of public holidays when an employee is on sick or hospitalisation leave. From my experience in IR consultations, this provision is often overlooked, misunderstood, or misapplied — especially on the issue of whether a public holiday lost due to medical leave must be replaced. In the recent case of Rajinderjit Singh A/L Inderajit Singh vs HSBC Electronic Data Processing (M) Sdn Bhd (Award No. 1153 of 2025), the Industrial Court appears to have missed the correct legal interpretation of this section. Section 60D(1B) clearly states that if a public holiday falls on a sick or hospitalisation leave day, the employer must grant a replacement public holiday. This is distinctly different from maternity leave, where no substitution is required under a separate provision. Such misinterpretation can lead to confusion for HR practitioners and employers — increasing the risk of non-compliance, flawed policies, and even potential litigation. And here's the kicker — if A.I. tools trained on this flawed understanding start spitting out the same misinterpretation, the damage could snowball further based on A.I hallucinations. Moral of the story? Humans make mistakes — even courts. Always verify, cross-check, and don’t rely on A.I. blindly. Trust the law, not the noise. #EmploymentAct1955 #Section60D #PublicHolidayVsSickLeave #IndustrialCourt #HRCompliance #AIInHR #IRMatters #HRInsights

Can an employer require staff to work on Christmas Day without asking first? Not according to the Federal Court in 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘷 𝘖𝘚 𝘔𝘊𝘈𝘗 𝘗𝘵𝘺 𝘓𝘵𝘥 (𝘕𝘰 3) [2025] FCA 1372. OS MCAP Pty Ltd operates the Daunia Mine in Queensland. Its employees worked seven-on/seven-off rosters and were paid annualised salaries well above the Black Coal Mining Award, including compensation for public holiday work. In December 2019, OS told crews they were required to work on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Employees could apply for leave only if they had “special circumstances” - general family reasons were rejected. Eighty-five employees worked those days without extra pay. The legal question? Did OS breach the 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘈𝘤𝘵 2009 by requiring, rather than requesting, employees to work on public holidays? Under s. 114 of the FW Act: • Employees are entitled to be absent from work on public holidays; • Employers may request work if the request is reasonable; and • Employees may refuse if the request is unreasonable or their refusal is reasonable. The Full Federal Court had already ruled that OS contravened s. 114 because a requirement is not a request. The case returned to Justice Rangiah to decide remedies. His Honour held that there had been no economic loss because the employees' salaries already covered public holiday work. However, the employees lost the opportunity to refuse and suffered distress from missing family Christmas. Compensation was awarded for non-economic loss: • $800–$1,100 for most employees.    • $1,400–$1,700 for seven employees with compelling personal circumstances. A pecuniary penalty of $15,000 was imposed on OS after his Honour accepted that the breach arose from a genuine and reasonable but mistaken interpretation, yet affected 85 employees. However, it should be kept in mind that the maximum penalty for this contravention at the time it occurred was $63,000 whereas the maximum penalty now is $99,000. Why does this matter? ✔️ A contract saying “you may be required to work public holidays” does not override the statutory requirement to make a reasonable request. ✔️ Employers must allow employees to refuse on reasonable grounds - family responsibilities count. ✔️ Even without financial loss, courts can award compensation for non-eceonomic loss and impose penalties. ✔️ If your business operates 365 days a year, review your rostering and public holiday processes now. A simple failure to “ask, not tell” can cost you. Would your current approach pass the “request, not requirement” test? ---- Like this post? Like 👍 | Comment ✍ | Repost ♻️ | Save 🗄️ #humanresources #pointyendofhr #employmentlaw

Rethinking Public Holidays in Mauritius: A Path to Economic Competitiveness Mauritius currently enjoys a generous number of public holidays. We have around five or six truly national holidays. In addition, a few holidays despite their religious roots like Christmas & Diwali, have become more akin to national festivals. While this diversity is a source of pride, it also presents a challenge for economic productivity. As Mauritius seeks to move to the next stage of its economic development, particularly as an international financial centre, we must ask ourselves if it's time to reconsider the structure of our public holidays? The Case for Reform 1. Reducing Disruptions to Business and Government Services Every additional public holiday means a pause in economic activity. While public holidays are important for cultural and religious observance, they also come with a cost in terms of productivity. 2. Ensuring Fairness Across Religious Communities Currently, public holidays are structured in a way that grants official leave on specific religious festivals, even to those who do not celebrate them. A more equitable approach would be to provide a fixed number of religious leave days per year. This would ensure that individuals can observe their religious practices without imposing additional closures on businesses and government offices. 3. Encouraging a More Inclusive Workforce A reduction in mandatory religious holidays could incentivize businesses to hire people from diverse backgrounds, as they would not need to account for multiple religious holidays disrupting operations. 4. Enhancing Mauritius’ Global Competitiveness As Mauritius aspires to strengthen its position as an international financial centre, aligning our work calendar with global business norms is crucial. By optimizing our public holiday structure, we would enhance the country’s attractiveness to investors and multinational firms. A Pragmatic Solution The government could implement a system where each worker receives a set number of religious leave days per year, which they can use at their discretion. This would allow people to take time off for the religious holidays that matter to them personally and to maintain fairness, all employees, regardless of faith, receive the same total number of leave days. The current government, with its overwhelming majority, has a rare opportunity to implement meaningful reforms that would benefit the economy while respecting the country’s multicultural fabric. A modernized approach to public holidays would strike a balance between religious and cultural observance and economic efficiency, ensuring that Mauritius remains competitive in an increasingly globalized world. I believe this will not in any way impact our religious traditions; rather, it is about creating a system that allows for both cultural respect and economic progress. If we are serious about moving to the next stage of our development, this is a conversation we must have.

Building across time zones isn’t just about scheduling, it’s about respecting energy. Most global teams don’t fail because of bad talent. They fail because of bad timing. A 2 AM call for your teammate in Singapore isn’t collaboration, it’s burnout disguised as hustle. The best global teams I’ve seen don’t chase 24/7 availability, they engineer golden hours: shared windows where overlap creates focus, not fatigue. Everything else? Async. That’s where high-performance teams actually win. Here’s what the pros do differently ▪️Rotate discomfort. If someone’s up early this week, you take the late call next week. Fairness builds trust. ▪️Protect “no-ping” zones. Respect DND hours. Real trust is when people can sleep without checking Slack. ▪️Document everything. If it’s not written down, it doesn’t exist. Async clarity > real-time chaos. ▪️Automate updates. Let systems handle reminders and status checks — save human energy for real decisions. Remote culture isn’t about working everywhere. It’s about making progress while you’re asleep. Teams that master async execution don’t just avoid burnout, they scale faster because they’ve built for trust, not tension. So, if you’re leading across borders, ask yourself Are you managing time zones, or are they managing you? P.S. Dropping impactful insights that matter in my weekly newsletter every Saturday, 10 AM EST. Don't miss it. Subscribe right here! https://lnkd.in/gcqfGeK4