Public Holidays and Weekend Work Worldwide
What are weekly offs and Public Holidays in various countries? How many weekends do people in other country work? Find out working days and trends in different countries.
What is weekend work?
Weekend work is the work occurring on normal days of rest. Normal days of rest (or weekly rest days) differ among countries on the basis of culture or religion. For example, in Europe and US, the weekly rest days are Saturday and Sunday. While in the Middle Eastern counties with predominant Muslim populations, weekly rest day is Friday (with Thursday or Saturday attached). Weekend work is one of the many types of atypical work or non-standard work schedules like on-call work, shift work and compressed workweeks.
Is there any special pay for weekend work?
Weekend work is a special type of overtime work and is generally compensated with extra pay or at least with a compensatory holiday. The weekend work premium is usually 100% to 200% of the ordinary rates of pay.
The table below shows countries from “Labor Rights for Women” project and weekly rest provisions in their laws as well weekend work premium, if provided in their laws.
| Country | Weekly Rest | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Egypt | Weekly rest day is not specified in labor law (1 day) | Normal wages for the work on rest day and a compensatory holiday |
| Guatemala | Weekly rest day is not specified in labor law (1 day) | 150% of wages for the work on rest day |
| India | First day of the week for factory workers, and Sunday for workers in scheduled employment (1 day) | Normal wages for the work on rest day and a compensatory holiday |
| Indonesia | Weekly rest day is not specified in labor law(1 or 2 days) | (i) for workers working a 6 day working week - double time for the first 7 hours, triple time for the 8th hour and quadruple time for the 9th and 10th hours; (ii) for workers working a 5 day working week - double time for the first 8 hours, triple time for the 9th hour and quadruple time for the 10th and 11th hours. |
| Kenya | Rest day is not specified (1 day) | 200% of wages for the work on rest day |
| Mozambique | Rest day is Sunday (1 day) | 200% of wages for the work on rest day and a compensatory holiday |
| Pakistan | Rest day is Sunday (1 day) | Normal wages for the work on rest day and a compensatory holiday |
| Paraguay | Rest day is Sunday (1 day) | Normal wages for the work on rest day and a compensatory holiday |
| Peru | Rest day is Sunday (1 day) | |
| South Africa | Rest day is Sunday (1 day) | One of the following three options for compensation: (i) if the employee ordinarily works on a Sunday – 150% of employee’s wage for each hour worked; (ii) if the employee does not ordinary work on a Sunday – 200% of employee’s wage for each hour worked; (iii) this should not be less than an employee’s normal wage rate |
| Source: ILO Database on Conditions of Work and Employment Laws. ILO, Geneva | ||
How an organization can introduce weekend work?
As per the ILO document on the subject, weekend work can be introduced through collective agreements (as in Denmark and France), after approval from Works Council (as in Germany), after informing labor inspectors (as in India and Pakistan) or unilaterally by an employer (as in USA).
What does the ILO say about working on weekends?
ILO Conventions 14 (weekly rest in industry) and 106 (weekly rest in commerce/offices) stipulate the general standard that workers enjoy a rest period of at least 24 uninterrupted hours in every seven days. The ILO Conventions further provide that if a worker has to work over the weekend, a compensatory holiday of equivalent duration i.e., at least 24 hours, must be provided.
What is the optimal distribution of rest days?
According to Fritz and Sonnentag (2005), as quoted in an ILO study, there is little evidence regarding the optimum distribution of rest days between rotating shift schedules. It has been proposed that in order to increase workers’ productivity, working days should not be more than six and a minimum of two successive rest days may be provided.
Does unionization affect working over the weekends?
Research has shown many benefits of unionization for workers. Unionized workers are usually protected against weekend work and if they do work weekends, they receive higher premium for it. Those working over weekends are usually non-unionized, temporary or contract workers.
What are the pros and cons of working over weekends?
Weekend is one of the many non-standard work forms and is beneficial both for workers and employer as it enables workers to earn more (if premium payments are provided) as well enabling employer to increase the total production of an organization, efficiently use of resources and productive capacity of a plant and increase responsiveness to customers’ needs.
However, weekend work is also disadvantageous as causes conflict with social obligations and problems arise for workers with family responsibilities.
How many weekly holidays am I allowed to have?
If you are working 8 hours/day, you are eligible for one-day holiday in a week. It can be either day in a week and can also be the day when your establishment is closed. Your weekly holidays are paid and your employer can’t deduct money for these holidays.
Which economic sector has the highest incidence of weekend work?
Workers in the service sector especially hotels, restaurants and wholesale/retail trade have the highest incidence of weekend work. Well-educated workers usually work a standard working week although their normal working hours are much longer than other workers. Observing some recent data from EU-27, it also appears that women and men are equally likely to work on weekends.
References
- Decent Working Time. New trends, new issues
- Working time around the world
- What is weekend work?
- Working time in the twenty-first century
- Working time, health, and safety: a research synthesis paper, Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 31
