What Are The Public Holidays in Bolivia in 2026?

List of Public Holidays in Bolivia (2026)

Bolivia’s public holiday calendar combines fixed national dates with religious holidays that move each year. Use the table below to plan staffing, leave, and payroll for your Bolivian team in 2026.

Do Employers Have to Provide Paid Leave on Public Holidays?

Yes, Bolivian labour law generally requires employers to provide paid leave on official national public holidays for employees who would normally work on those days. Employees are entitled to their regular daily pay without having to work, and you should not reduce monthly or weekly wages because a public holiday falls in the pay period.

When a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the Bolivian government commonly declares the following Monday a non‑working day for most employees, and you should follow any official decrees that shift observance. Part‑time employees who are normally scheduled to work on the holiday are typically entitled to paid time off in proportion to their usual hours, while those who are not scheduled to work that day do not gain an extra paid day.

If your operations require staff to work on a public holiday, employees are usually entitled to both their normal holiday pay and additional compensation for the hours actually worked, often at a premium rate or with compensatory time off. Because specific entitlements can depend on collective bargaining agreements or sector rules, you should confirm the applicable rate or time‑off arrangement in your contracts and any union agreements.

Legal Penalties for Not Providing Paid Holiday Leave

Failing to grant paid public holidays or to respect official non‑working days can expose your company to inspections and sanctions from the Ministry of Labour (Ministerio de Trabajo). Authorities may order you to pay back wages for missed holiday pay, regularise working conditions, and in some cases impose administrative fines. Repeated or intentional non‑compliance can increase the financial and reputational risk for your organisation.

Common employer mistakes include treating public holidays as unpaid leave, not applying government decrees that move observance to Monday, and misclassifying employees as contractors to avoid holiday obligations. Because enforcement practice and fine amounts can change, it is safest to monitor official resolutions and seek local legal advice before adopting any non‑standard holiday policy.

How Do Holidays Affect Overtime Thresholds?

In Bolivia, hours worked on a public holiday are typically treated as work performed on a special non‑working day and may attract premium pay on top of the employee’s normal salary. While the exact multiplier can depend on sector rules or collective agreements, holiday work is often compensated at a higher rate than ordinary overtime or offset with equivalent paid time off on another day.

Public holidays do not usually reduce the statutory weekly working‑time limits, so you should still track total hours to identify when daily or weekly overtime thresholds are exceeded. If an employee works on a public holiday and also exceeds normal working‑time limits, you may owe both holiday premium pay and overtime pay according to the most favourable applicable rule. Because interpretations can vary, especially in complex shift patterns, you should confirm your approach with a Bolivian labour specialist.

Stay 100% Compliant with Leave Regulations Using Playroll

Managing Bolivian public holidays from abroad can be tricky – you have to track moving religious dates, last‑minute government decrees, and local practices around premium pay and observance. Playroll helps you handle all of this in one place so your team gets the right leave and pay, every time.

When you hire through Playroll in Bolivia, our in‑country experts and legal partners keep your employment contracts, leave policies, and payroll settings aligned with current Bolivian labour rules. We automatically apply official public holidays to your employees’ calendars, adjust for observed Mondays when decrees are issued, and calculate the correct pay for holiday work and overtime.

You stay focused on building your team, while we handle the compliance details – from onboarding and contracts to monthly payroll, payslips, and statutory reporting. If regulations change or new holidays are introduced, Playroll updates your settings so you do not have to chase down legal updates or reconfigure your HR systems.

If you are planning to hire in Bolivia or expand an existing team, Playroll gives you a simple, compliant way to manage public holidays, leave, and pay without setting up a local entity or becoming a Bolivian labour law expert.