It is the question behind every holiday: do you get paid on public holidays? The answer varies enormously around the world — from countries where holiday pay is a legal right to those where it is entirely at your employer’s discretion. This plain-language comparison covers how the major systems work. (This is general information, not legal advice — your contract and local labour law have the final word.)
The UK: Included in Statutory Leave
British workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave, and employers may include the eight bank holidays within that — most do, but they are not legally required to give bank holidays as extra days. If you work on a bank holiday, there is no automatic right to extra pay; it depends on your contract. Many employers offer time-and-a-half or double time as an incentive, but plenty pay the normal rate. Part-time workers get a pro-rata equivalent. The key point: in the UK, bank holidays are a custom, not a standalone legal entitlement.
The US: Entirely Up to Employers
The United States has no federal law requiring private employers to give any holiday off, paid or otherwise — the federal holidays apply to federal workers only. In practice, most full-time employees receive around six to eleven paid holidays a year as a company benefit, and the average private-sector worker gets about eight. Holiday premium pay (time-and-a-half) is common in retail, hospitality and healthcare but is a matter of company policy, not law. If you are job-hunting in the US, the holiday schedule is genuinely part of the compensation package — worth asking about.
Pakistan and India: Statutory Paid Holidays
In Pakistan, the gazetted public holidays announced by the Cabinet Division are paid days off for government employees, and labour law extends paid holiday entitlements to most formal-sector workers — anyone required to work on a public holiday is generally entitled to compensatory leave or extra pay under the relevant labour statutes. India works similarly: the central and state holiday lists create paid days off for government and many organised-sector workers, with the Factories Act and Shops and Establishments Acts providing the legal backbone. Enforcement varies, especially in the informal sector, but the legal principle is clear: public holidays are paid.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia: Unified and Paid
The UAE’s unified public holiday calendar applies equally to public and private sectors, and private-sector employees who work on an official public holiday are entitled to compensatory leave or additional pay under UAE labour law — the employer cannot simply absorb the day. Saudi Arabia’s labour law similarly provides paid leave for its official holidays, with premium pay for those required to work. The Gulf systems are notably employee-friendly on paper; as always, the practical advice is to know your contract and keep records.
The Bottom Line
The global spectrum runs from “no legal right at all” (US private sector) through “customary but flexible” (UK) to “statutory and paid” (Pakistan, India, much of Europe and the Gulf). Wherever you work, three things are worth doing: read your contract’s holiday clause before you need it, learn whether holiday work attracts a premium in your workplace, and keep track of which holidays your employer actually observes — because the calendar on the wall and the calendar in your contract are not always the same.