Legal Basis
According to §94 (2) and (4) of the Slovak Labour Code, work on public holidays may only be ordered in exceptional cases (e.g. urgent repairs, continuous operations, guarding premises). Alternatively, it may be performed based on an agreement between the employer and employee.
Public Holidays (Non-working Days)
In Slovakia, there is a distinction between state holidays (commemorative days) and public holidays that are non-working days (“dni pracovného pokoja”). Employees are entitled to rest only on the following non-working public holidays:
01 Jan – Day of Establishment of the Slovak Republic
06 Jan – Epiphany
Good Friday
Easter Monday
Labor Day
05 Jul – Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius
29 Aug – SNP Anniversary
01 Nov – All Saints' Day
24 Dec – Christmas Eve
25 Dec – Christmas Day
26 Dec – Boxing Day
Other state holidays (e.g. 5 July, 29 August, 1 September, 28 October) are commemorative days but not non-working days unless explicitly listed above.
Update 2024: As per the amendment of the Act on National Holidays and Remembrance Days, 1 September (Constitution Day) is no longer a public holiday with a day of rest. It remains a state holiday but is now treated as a regular working day.
Update 2025 October:
Starting in 2025, November 17 (Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day) will no longer be a public holiday.
In 2026, May 8 (Victory over Fascism Day) and September 15 (Day of Our Lady of Sorrows) will temporarily lose their status as public holidays.
Please note that this is a temporary change, but it is important that these days are treated as regular working days in the system for next year.
Pay Entitlements
Regular working day on a public holiday: Employee is entitled to their salary plus a 100% wage surcharge.
Public holiday on a weekend or overtime: Employee is entitled to the holiday surcharge in addition to the overtime/weekend surcharge. If the employee would work on a public holiday that is not otherwise his/her normal working day (e.g. on a Saturday/Sunday which is a day of continuous rest in a week which is also a public/state holiday), or if he worked on a public holiday which fell on a normal working day for a longer period than he would have been entitled to work on that day in a regular working shift, he would be entitled not only to a pay a surcharge for working on a public holiday, but also to a pay surcharge for working overtime and a pay surcharge for working on a Saturday/Sunday.
Compensatory Leave (Time off in Lieu)
May only be provided if agreed with the employee (recommended in writing).
If compensatory leave is taken:
The employee waives the holiday surcharge,
Retains their normal salary, and
Is entitled to wage compensation equal to 100% of average earnings.
If leave is not granted within 3 months, the employee regains entitlement to the holiday surcharge.
On public holidays, an employee may only be ordered to:
work which may be ordered on the employee's days of continuous rest during the week (*)
work in continuous operation
work necessary for guarding the employer's premises
(*) On an employee's continuous weekly rest day, the employee may only be ordered to perform the following essential work that cannot be performed on weekdays:
(a) urgent repair work,
(b) loading and unloading work,
(c) inventory and closure work,
(d) work carried out on a continuous basis for an employee who has failed to report for a shift,
(e) work to avert danger to life, health or in emergencies,
(f) work necessary in order to meet the living, health and cultural needs of the population,
(g) feeding and tending livestock,
(h) urgent agricultural work in crop production in the establishment, treatment and harvesting of cultivated crops and in the processing of food raw materials.
It follows from the above that there is a significant difference between ordering your employees to work on a public holiday or agreeing with them to work on a public holiday. As for the agreement, the law does not specifically specify the details of the agreement, but we recommend that it be in writing and in a manner that leaves no doubt that the employee was willing to work on the particular holiday.
OPS Process (Remote Work Context)
In practice, working on a public holiday can be arranged in two ways:
Ordered work – only for legally permitted exceptions.
Agreement with the employee – recommended in remote work situations.
Process for Agreement:
Client emails the talent requesting work on a specific public holiday.
Talent must reply acknowledging willingness to work.
Both emails should be shared with WorkMotion for records.
Talent submits a leave request on the platform with the note: “Work on Public Holiday”.
Talent also requests a day in lieu, commenting: “Day in lieu for work on Public Holiday DD/MM/YYYY.”
As for the agreement, the law does not specifically specify the details of the agreement, but it is recommended that it should be agreed in writing and in a manner that leaves no doubt that the employee was willing to work on the particular holiday.
Hence, Please inform the client to simply write an email to talent to work on Public Holiday and talent must acknowledge it. The email should be sent to us and we must save it for record purpose. Once the email is acknowledged by the talent, The talent must request a paid leave with a note on the platform "Work on Public Holiday’ and time of in lieu with a comment Day in lieu for work on Public Holiday DD/MM/YYYY."
Source (if any): Payroll Vendor & SalesForce Case ; Official Slovak Goverment Site ; Article about the change in 2024 ;
00291013 - changes in public holidays for 2025
Submitter: Ayushi Dubey , update: Réka Bernert