What Are The Public Holidays in Armenia in 2026?

List of Public Holidays in Armenia (2026)

Armenia sets its public holidays at national level, and the government may adjust working and non-working days by annual decree. Based on the standard calendar, here are the key public holidays your team in Armenia is likely to observe in 2026.

Do Employers Have to Provide Paid Leave on Public Holidays?

Yes, Armenian labor law generally treats official public holidays as paid non-working days for employees, meaning your company must pay employees their regular salary for these days if they would normally work on them. The rules apply nationwide, without regional differences, although the government can issue annual decisions that shift working days to Saturdays or declare additional one-off non-working days.

Full-time employees are entitled to retain their average daily pay for public holidays that fall on their normal workdays. Part-time employees are usually paid for public holidays in proportion to their work schedule and contract, so if a holiday falls on a day they are not scheduled to work, there is typically no separate entitlement to paid time off for that day.

If your employees work on a public holiday, Armenian law requires enhanced compensation. In practice, this is commonly at least double pay for hours worked on a public holiday, or normal pay plus additional paid time off, depending on the employment contract or collective agreement. You should clearly document in local contracts whether you provide premium pay, compensatory rest, or both, and ensure that any work on public holidays is agreed in advance and recorded accurately.

When a public holiday falls on a weekend, the government often announces substitute non-working days or swaps working days with nearby Saturdays. These changes are made by official decree, so you should monitor government announcements each year and update your holiday calendar and payroll settings accordingly.

Legal Penalties for Not Providing Paid Holiday Leave

Failing to respect public holiday rules in Armenia can expose your company to administrative fines and inspections by the labor authorities. The Health and Labor Inspection Body and other competent state bodies can review whether you correctly classified days as working or non-working, paid employees for public holidays, and applied premium rates when staff worked on those days.

Penalties typically include administrative fines that can increase for repeated violations, as well as orders to pay any underpaid wages, premium holiday pay, or compensatory rest owed to employees. In more serious or systematic cases, authorities may conduct broader audits of your timekeeping, payroll, and employment contracts, which can lead to additional findings and liabilities.

Common employer mistakes include treating public holidays as unpaid leave, failing to pay premium rates for work on holidays, misapplying substitute non-working days announced by the government, and not updating employment contracts or internal policies when the official holiday calendar changes. To reduce risk, keep written records of schedules, timesheets, and pay calculations for any work performed on public holidays, and ensure your local HR or payroll provider tracks government decrees each year.

How Do Holidays Affect Overtime Thresholds?

In Armenia, public holidays interact with overtime rules because hours worked on a public holiday are treated as work performed in special conditions and must be compensated at higher rates than ordinary hours. If an employee works beyond their normal daily or weekly schedule and this work falls on a public holiday, you generally need to apply both the overtime premium and the public holiday premium, unless a collective agreement or law specifies a combined rate.

Overtime thresholds are usually based on the employee's standard working time, such as a 40-hour workweek. Work on a public holiday that exceeds this threshold should be treated as overtime, with enhanced pay or time off in lieu. Even if the total weekly hours do not exceed the standard limit, Armenian law still expects premium compensation for work on public holidays, so you cannot simply treat those hours as regular time.

To stay compliant, configure your timekeeping and payroll systems so that public holiday hours are coded separately from regular and overtime hours. This makes it easier to apply the correct multipliers, demonstrate compliance during inspections, and clearly explain pay calculations to employees. When in doubt, applying the more generous rate is usually the safer approach, as practice can vary and collective agreements may set higher standards than the legal minimum.

Stay 100% Compliant with Leave Regulations Using Playroll

Managing Armenian public holidays from abroad can be tricky, especially when the government shifts working days or announces extra non-working days at short notice. Playroll helps you stay ahead of these changes so your team in Armenia is paid correctly and your company remains compliant.

With Playroll, you can rely on local experts and up-to-date calendars for Armenia, including official public holidays, substitute days, and common local practices. We build these rules directly into your employment contracts and payroll settings, so public holiday pay, premium rates, and time-off entitlements are calculated automatically for every pay run.

Playroll can help you:

• Hire employees in Armenia without setting up a local entity, at a clear monthly cost per role.
• Apply Armenian public holiday and leave rules consistently across full-time and part-time staff.
• Configure premium pay for work on public holidays and overtime in line with Armenian law and any agreed company policies.
• Track government decrees that change working and non-working days, and update your calendars and payroll accordingly.
• Reduce the risk of fines, back pay claims, and disputes by keeping clean, compliant records for every employee.

Instead of piecing together local legal advice and manual spreadsheets, you get a single platform that handles contracts, time off, and payroll for your Armenian team. If you are planning to hire in Armenia or already have employees there, Playroll gives you the confidence that your public holiday and leave practices are aligned with local law and best practice.