Private sector employers and employees
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East Perth WA 6892
This information is only relevant to employers and employees in the WA state industrial relations system.
The Western Australian public holidays for the 2023 Easter period are:
Under the Public and Bank Holidays Act 1972, Good Friday (7 April 2023), Easter Sunday (9 April 2023), and Easter Monday (10 April 2023) are observed on the actual day of the public holiday.
An employee’s pay and working entitlements will depend on their specific employment arrangements. Employers and employees covered by a WA award should check the award for details on public holiday rostering and payment arrangements.
This page provides information on public holiday employment entitlements for Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday for:
For information on other WA awards, please:
In 2022, Easter Sunday was established as a public holiday in Western Australia.
For employers and employees in the state industrial relations system, the Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 recognises Easter Sunday as a public holiday. This ensures that full time and part time employees who are not required to work on Easter Sunday, solely because that day is a public holiday, are entitled to their usual pay.
Implementation arrangements concerning Easter Sunday were introduced to ensure that WA awards, and industrial agreements that deal with public holidays immediately recognise the new Easter Sunday public holiday.
Employees who are required to work on Easter Sunday are therefore entitled to receive any applicable public holiday penalty rates on this day, rather than normal Sunday pay rates.
The Easter Sunday public holiday will be observed on Easter Sunday itself, rather than some alternative day, and any provision in a WA award that would substitute the Easter Sunday public holiday to another day solely because the public holiday falls on a weekend is of no effect. However, provisions that would substitute the Easter Sunday public holiday to another day for some other reason, for example, because it falls on an employee’s rostered day off, will continue to operate as set out in the WA award.
Visit the Easter Sunday public holiday page more information.
Easter Saturday, Saturday 8 April is not a public holiday in Western Australia. However, some WA awards do recognise Easter Saturday as a public holiday for the purposes of the award, and employees who work Easter Saturday must be paid public holiday rates. Key WA awards in this category are:
Check the relevant WA award summaries for public holiday pay rates.
Some other WA awards require employees to be paid a higher rate of pay for working on Easter Saturday without recognising this day as a public holiday. Key WA awards in this category are:
Check Ordinary working hours, penalty rates and overtime section of the relevant the WA award summaries for information on rates payable on Easter Saturday.
Award free full time and part time employees who would normally work on Good Friday (7 April 2023), Easter Sunday (9 April 2023), or Easter Monday (10 April 2023), but who are not required to work solely because it is a public holiday, are entitled to be paid for the day/s.
There are no minimum entitlements to additional rates of pay for working on a public holiday for award free employees. However, award free employees may have contracts of employment which specify other arrangements for payment for working public holidays.
Award free casual employees are entitled to be paid for working on a public holiday. There are no minimum entitlements to additional rates of pay for award free casual employees working on a public holiday. However, award free employees may have contracts of employment which specify other arrangements for payment on public holidays.
Full time and part time employees who would normally work on Good Friday (7 April 2023), Easter Sunday (9 April 2023), or Easter Monday (10 April 2023), but who are not required to work solely because it is a public holiday, are entitled to be paid for the day/s. If a full time or part time employee is required to work on one, two or all of the Easter public holidays, public holiday pay rates will apply.
The Shop and Warehouse Award also requires a time and a half penalty rate to be paid for all time worked in ordinary hours on Easter Saturday 8 April 2023.
Refer to the Shop and Warehouse WA award summary for public holiday pay rates for full time and part time employees.
The Shop and Warehouse Award provides that when any of the days that are public holidays under the award fall on a day that a full time or part time employee is usually required to work less than one fifth of their ordinary weekly hours of duty, the employee is entitled to time off duty without deduction of pay equivalent to the difference between the time usually worked on that day and one fifth of their ordinary weekly hours. The following examples illustrate how this works.
Example 1
Jeremy is a part time employee who works an average of 30 hours per week. One fifth of Jeremy’s ordinary hours is therefore 6 hours (30 divided by 5). Jeremy normally works 4 hours on a Monday.
Jeremy’s employer is closed on Monday 10 April 2023 (the Easter Monday public holiday). Jeremy is entitled to be paid for the 4 hours he would normally have worked on that Monday and additionally, he is entitled to time off duty equivalent to 2 hours. The time off duty represents the difference between the time he ordinarily works on a Monday (4 hours) and one fifth of his ordinary weekly hours (6 hours).
The time off duty may be taken at a time that is mutually agreed between the employer and employee, or it may be taken in conjunction with a period of annual leave.
The Shop and Warehouse Award also provides that when a public holiday falls on a rostered day off, an employee is to be compensated in one of the following methods by agreement between the employer and employee:
Example 2
Harriet is a full time employee who works 19 days over a four-week cycle (8 hours per day) and has a rostered day off every fourth Friday.
In 2023 Good Friday falls on Harriet’s rostered day off. To compensate for this, Harriet and her employer can agree that Harriet:
Example 3
Ming is a full time employee who works in a General Retail Shop from Tuesday to Saturday each week. Monday is therefore considered a ‘rostered day off’ for Ming. As the Easter Monday public holiday falls on Ming’s rostered day off, Ming and her employer can agree that Ming:
Casual employees who are required to work on Good Friday (7 April 2023), Easter Sunday (9 April 2023), or Easter Monday (10 April 2023) must be paid at public holiday rates.
The Shop and Warehouse Award also requires a time and a half penalty rate to be paid for all time worked in ordinary hours on Easter Saturday, 8 April 2023.
Refer to the Shop and Warehouse WA award summary for public holiday pay rates for casual employees.
Full time employees who would normally work on Good Friday (7 April 2023), Easter Sunday (9 April 2023), or Easter Monday (10 April 2023), but who are not required to work solely because it is a public holiday, are entitled to be paid for the day/s. If a full time employee is required to work on one, two or all of the Easter public holidays, then public holiday pay rates apply.
Refer to the Restaurant, Tearoom and Catering Workers WA award summary for public holiday pay rates for full time employees.
If any public holiday falls on a full time employee’s non-working day (referred to as a ‘rostered day off’), the public holiday is observed on the next rostered working day. If the employee is required to work on the next rostered working day, they are entitled to be paid at public holiday rates of pay.
Example 4
Morgan is a full time Chef who works Wednesday to Sunday each week. In 2023, the Easter Monday public holiday falls on Monday 10 April 2023. As this is a non-working day for Morgan, the public holiday is observed on their next rostered working day. Morgan is therefore entitled to a paid day off on Wednesday 12 April 2023. If they are required to work on this day, public holiday rates will apply.
Part time employees who would normally work on Good Friday (7 April 2023), Easter Sunday (9 April 2023), or Easter Monday (10 April 2023), but who are not required to work solely because it is a public holiday, are entitled to be paid for the day/s. If a part time employee is required to work on a public holiday, public holiday rates will apply.
Refer to the Restaurant, Tearoom and Catering Workers WA award summary for public holiday pay rates for part time employees.
If a part time employee would not normally be required to work on a public holiday, there are no additional public holiday entitlements.
Casual employees, who are required to work on Good Friday (7 April 2023), Easter Sunday (9 April 2023), or Easter Monday (10 April 2023) must be paid at public holiday rates.
The Restaurant, Tearoom and Catering Workers WA award summary outlines public holiday pay rates.
Full time employees who would normally work on Good Friday (7 April 2023), Easter Sunday (9 April 2023), (noting that ordinary hours cannot be worked on a Sunday under this award), or Easter Monday (10 April 2023), but who are not required to work solely because it is a public holiday, are entitled to be paid for the day/s. If a full time employee is required to work on one of these days, then public holiday rates will apply.
This award also requires a time and a half penalty rate to be paid for all time worked in ordinary hours on Easter Saturday.
Refer to the Hairdressers WA award summary for public holiday pay rates for full time employees.
If a public holiday under the award falls on a full time employee’s non-working day (referred to as a ‘rostered day off’), then the rostered day off is to be taken on the employee’s next following working day, or by mutual agreement, on another day in the same week. Alternatively the award allows the employer and employee to agree on the employee accumulating up to five rostered days off in any given year, which may be taken at a mutually agreed time.
Example
Nathan is a full time hairdresser and works Tuesday to Saturday each week.
In 2023, Easter Monday falls on Monday 10 April. As Monday is a non-working day for Nathan (i.e. a rostered day off), he is entitled to another paid day off on his next working day, which is Tuesday 11 April 2023. Alternatively, Nathan and his employer may agree the paid day off be taken on another day that week, or at another mutually convenient time.
Part time employees who would normally work on Good Friday (7 April 2023), Easter Sunday (9 April 2023), or Easter Monday (10 April 2023) but who are not required to solely because it is a public holiday, are entitled to be paid for the day/s. If a part time employee is required to work on a public holiday, public holiday rates will apply.
The Hairdressers Award also requires a time and a half penalty rate to be paid for all time worked in ordinary hours on Easter Saturday.
Refer to the Hairdressers WA award summary for public holiday rates.
If a part time employee would not normally be required to work on a public holiday, there are no additional public holiday entitlements.
Casual employees who are required to work on Good Friday (7 April 2023), Easter Sunday (9 April 2023), or Easter Monday (10 April 2023) must be paid at public holiday rates.
The Hairdressers Award also requires a time and a half penalty rate to be paid to casual employees required to work on Easter Saturday.
Refer to the Hairdressers WA award summary for public holiday pay rates.
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