Public holidays that fall on a Saturday must be compensated, according to the National Court

Many employees in sectors such as retail, hospitality, or contact centres work from Monday to Saturday, but what happens when a public holiday falls on a Saturday? Can it be carried over? Must the employer grant an additional day off or pay for that day? This is what the Labour Chamber of the National Court has recently examined.

The case examined: Contact Centre companies

The judgment analyses the case of companies in the Contact Centre sector that did not compensate employees for public holidays (whether national, regional, or local) when employees worked from Monday to Friday or from Monday to Saturday and the public holiday coincided with a Saturday, which was one of their weekly rest days.

The National Court has ruled as follows.

• It is not lawful for companies in this sector to fail to compensate employees in such cases; in other words, they cannot do so because it is contrary to the law.
• Employees are entitled to ensure that public holidays are not absorbed or neutralised by their weekly rest period. These are different concepts, as we shall see below.
• The employer is obliged to grant the employee an additional day of rest when such an overlap occurs.
• The employee must take this compensatory day within a maximum period of 14 days.
• Companies in this sector must compensate employees for public holidays not taken retroactively, provided that the entitlement has not become time-barred.

There was already a precedent: the Zara case

In the article Public Holidays That Coincide with Rest Days: What the Supreme Court Says, we discussed this issue, which was examined by the Supreme Court in relation to Zara employees. In that case, employees worked from Monday to Sunday and had two fixed days off during the week. The Supreme Court held that when those rest days coincide with a public holiday, the employer must either grant the employee an alternative day off or pay them if it is not possible to provide another day of rest.

Can the National Court's ruling be applied to other sectors?

At present, there does not appear to be any settled case law, and both the Supreme Court and the National Court continue to assess these matters on a case-by-case basis. In each situation, the applicable collective bargaining agreement and the employee’s working arrangements must be examined.

What should you bear in mind as an employee in these situations?

It is important that, if you find yourself in any of the situations discussed above, you assess your circumstances with the assistance of an experienced employment lawyer and consider the following:

• What the applicable collective bargaining agreement provides regarding public holidays, rest days, and any possible compensation.
• The company's working calendar.
• Whether or not you have fixed rest days during the week.
• The number of days you work each week and the number of rest days you are entitled to.

The key principle: employees must be able to enjoy 14 public holidays per year

Several important conclusions can be drawn from the case law we have analysed:

• Under Article 37 of the Workers’ Statute, employees are entitled to a minimum uninterrupted weekly rest period of one and a half days.
• Public holidays, which are paid and non-recoverable, are limited to a maximum of 14 per year, two of which are local holidays. Employees must be able to enjoy these holidays in all circumstances, and they cannot be absorbed or cancelled out by weekly rest days. This principle is also supported by the Workers’ Statute, which allows the Government to move public holidays that fall on a Sunday to the following Monday.
• Public holidays and rest days have one thing in common: the employee does not work. However, they serve different purposes:
  o A rest day enables the employee to recover physically and mentally from the week’s work.
  o A public holiday is intended to allow participation in a celebration, whether religious or otherwise. In other words, public holidays exist so that employees can enjoy time in society with other people.

What are the 14 public holidays in Madrid?

If you work in Madrid from Monday to Sunday or from Monday to Saturday and your rest day coincides with one of the following public holidays in the Community of Madrid, you may be entitled to request an additional day of rest:

• 1 January (New Year's Day) and 6 January (Epiphany).
• 2 and 3 April (Maundy Thursday and Good Friday).
• 1 May (Labour Day), 2 May (Community of Madrid Day), and 15 May (San Isidro, in the city of Madrid).
• 15 August (Saturday, Assumption of the Virgin Mary).
• 12 October (Spain's National Day).
• 1 November and 9 November (Our Lady of Almudena, in the city of Madrid).
• 7, 8 and 25 December (Christmas Day). In this case, the holiday on 6 December (Constitution Day), which falls on a Sunday, has been moved to the following Monday.

Am I entitled to an extra day off if my day off coincides with a public holiday?

Yes. According to recent rulings by the Supreme Court and the National Court, you may be entitled either to an additional day of rest on another date or to payment for that day, depending on the provisions of the applicable collective bargaining agreement. In any event, you should seek advice from an employment lawyer experienced in this type of case, as the specific circumstances of your situation must be analysed to determine whether the case law discussed above applies and whether you are entitled to compensation.

If you believe that your employer is not complying with the law and is failing to compensate you for public holidays that fall on your day off, contact our team of specialist labour lawyers so that we can assess your case and, where appropriate, bring a claim against the employer on your behalf.