Public holidays that coincide with rest days: what the Supreme Court says

At G. Elías y Muñoz Lawyers, we are experts in labour law and have recently received several enquiries about a recurring question: public holidays that coincide with rest days. In this article, we analyse this issue to see what the Supreme Court says and how it is regulated in the Workers' Statute.

Weekly rest and public holidays according to the Workers' Statute

The first thing to analyse is what the Workers' Statute says about weekly rest periods and public holidays in Article 37. It states the following:

• Workers are entitled to a minimum weekly rest period, which can be accumulated for periods of up to 14 days, of one and a half uninterrupted days, which, as a general rule, includes Saturday afternoon or Monday morning and the whole of Sunday.
• Paid public holidays that cannot be recovered may not exceed 14 per year, of which 2 shall be local holidays. In any case, the following are recognised as national holidays: Christmas Day, New Year's Day, 1 May (Labour Day) and 12 October (Spanish National Day).
• The Government may move all national holidays that fall on a weekday to Mondays, as well as those that fall on a Sunday.
• The autonomous communities, within the annual limit of 14 public holidays, may establish traditional holidays specific to the community and replace those that are nationally regulated and those that are moved to Mondays.

The case analysed by the Supreme Court

The factual situation analysed by the Supreme Court concerns employees of Zara España S.A. who worked from Monday to Sunday and had two fixed days off per week from Monday to Friday. If their day off fell on a national, regional or local public holiday, they did not make it up.

The Supreme Court considers that when a predetermined weekly rest day coincides with a public holiday, it cannot be understood that the public holiday has been enjoyed. In such cases, the company must give the employee the possibility of enjoying another day off or pay them when it is not possible to give them another day off.

This case analysed by the Supreme Court refers to a very specific situation: workers who provide services from Monday to Sunday, when the weekly rest day overlaps with one of the 14 annual public holidays (national, regional or local).

The Supreme Court previously analysed two similar cases:

In a 2020 ruling (1132/2020 of 18 December), it analysed the case of the Contact Centre sector. In this case, the state collective agreement for the sector established that remuneration for time worked on public holidays must carry a surcharge of 60% instead of the 75% established by RD 2001/1983, and the ruling analyses the difference between a public holiday and a rest day, which we will look at in the next section, and that the surcharge regulated in the Royal Decree is only for cases in which it has not been possible to enjoy the public holiday or rest day. However, in this case, it is not the coincidence of the public holiday with the rest day that is being examined, but rather the compensation when neither can be enjoyed.

On the other hand, Supreme Court ruling 570/2022 of 22 June examines a case of workers who work shifts and do not have fixed rest days, and the company makes rest days coincide with public holidays. In this case, it is determined that the public holiday cannot coincide with the weekly rest day and if they overlap, the workers must be compensated.

Difference between a rest day and a public holiday

There is an important nuance that is emphasised in case law, which is that a rest day is not the same as a public holiday. The purpose of the weekly rest day is the physical and mental recovery of the worker. Rest is related to the provisions of Article 40.2 of the Spanish Constitution, which regulates the following:

2. Likewise, the public authorities shall promote a policy that guarantees professional training and retraining; they shall ensure safety and hygiene at work and guarantee the necessary rest, by limiting working hours, providing periodic paid holidays and promoting adequate facilities.

Therefore, workers' rest is protected by limits on working hours. This regulation is developed, as we have seen, by the Workers' Statute.

On the other hand, public holidays are intended for participation in civic or religious celebrations and the commemoration of certain dates. Various Supreme Court rulings state that the purpose of public holidays is to enable workers to celebrate certain civil, religious or secular events with the rest of society. Therefore, they are days of rest and public holidays are different.

Am I entitled to compensation for a public holiday that falls on a Saturday if I work Monday to Friday?

In this case, the situation is different: an employee who works Monday to Friday and therefore has Saturday and Sunday off. If the public holiday falls on a Saturday (day off), it is important to know that there is no Supreme Court case law that generally recognises the right to compensation in such cases. Each case must be considered individually, taking into account the circumstances, as mentioned in the following section.

What should an employee take into account?

It is important to consider that each situation is different and that the circumstances of each case must be carefully analysed, for example:

• The regulations established by the applicable collective agreement on public holidays and rest days.
• The company's work calendar.
• Whether the work is shift work or not.
• Whether the rest days are fixed or not.
• How many days off the worker has per week and how many days they work.

In short, it is essential to seek advice from lawyers who are experts in labour law to analyse all these aspects and determine the worker's rights. If you have any doubts about your situation, please contact our team of labour lawyers.