Managing public holiday pay can get tricky—especially around Easter. This quick guide walks you through how to record Easter public holidays in Employment Hero Payroll using Pay Cat, so you can stay compliant and save time.
We cover public holiday rules by state and how to handle pay for casual, part-time, and full-time employees—whether they worked or took the day off.
Getting public holiday pay right isn’t just about keeping staff happy—it’s a compliance requirement. Accurate records ensure you meet Fair Work obligations, avoid costly overpayments or underpayments, and maintain trust with your team. With public holiday payroll compliance, the key is consistency and clarity across all employee types.
Have a look below to see a breakdown of which days are considered Public Holidays across the Easter break for each state.
| State/Territory | Good Friday (Apr 18) | Easter Saturday (Apr 19) | Easter Sunday (Apr 20) | Easter Monday (Apr 21) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| VIC | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| QLD | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SA | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| WA | ✓ | x | ✓ | ✓ |
| TAS | ✓ | x | x | ✓ |
| NT | ✓ | x | x | ✓ |
| ACT | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Need more details on holiday rates? Check out our guide to Public Holiday Pay Rates by State.
For casuals, simply record the shift as normal if they worked on a public holiday. KeyPay will apply the appropriate loading (based on the Award or agreement) automatically.
If an employee normally works on a day that is a public holiday and did not work, record the time using the “Public Holiday Not Worked (PHNW)” pay category. This ensures they are paid as per their usual entitlements.
Watch the video see it in action
Note: If the employee did work on the public holiday, record it as a regular worked shift so Employment Hero Payroll calculates public holiday penalties correctly.
If your employees are set up with Advanced Standard Hours, Employment Hero Payroll will automatically pre-fill their expected hours, making it easier to allocate PHNW or adjust worked shifts accurately. This saves you time and reduces manual errors.
A. Fair Work doesn't offer specific guidance in these scenarios. However, a reasonable approach is to use a 4-week average of the same weekday to determine if the employee would usually work on that day. For example, if they usually work 3 out of the past 4 Mondays, you may reasonably assume they were expected to work on Easter Monday.
However, casuals don’t get paid if they don’t work on the public holiday, since they don’t have any guaranteed hours or leave entitlements.
💡 Example: Under the SCHADS Award, a casual working on a public holiday is entitled to 225% of the minimum hourly rate.
If an employee didn’t work but was entitled to be paid (e.g. part-time/full-time), use "Public Holiday Not Worked (PHNW)".
If they worked, just enter their hours as normal—the system will apply public holiday penalties automatically based on their Award or agreement.
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