What Are The Public Holidays in Comoros in 2026?

List of Public Holidays in Comoros (2026)

Comoros observes a mix of fixed national days and Islamic religious holidays, with the exact dates of the Islamic holidays confirmed closer to the time based on local moon sightings. The table below sets out the expected public holidays for 2026 to help you plan staffing and leave.

*Islamic holidays are based on the lunar calendar and local moon sightings, so the actual observed dates in Comoros may shift by one day from the estimates above. You should confirm dates locally each year.

Do Employers Have to Provide Paid Leave on Public Holidays?

Yes, in practice employers in Comoros are generally expected to treat official public holidays as paid days off for employees who would normally work on those days, although detailed rules are not comprehensively codified or easily accessible in English. For a standard full-time employee, if a public holiday falls on a scheduled working day, you should pay their normal daily wage even if they do not work.

Where a public holiday falls on a non-working day such as a regular weekly rest day, there is typically no additional paid day off required, and there is no widely documented national rule mandating a substitute day. Some employers, especially multinationals, voluntarily grant a day in lieu to stay competitive and consistent with internal global policies.

Part-time employees who are scheduled to work on a public holiday should be treated proportionally: if they are not required to work, they are usually paid for the hours they would otherwise have worked; if they do work, they should receive their normal pay plus any agreed premium or compensatory time off according to company policy or collective agreements.

There are no clear national distinctions between islands for the core public holidays listed above, but practice can vary slightly by region and sector, particularly for Islamic holidays that may be announced locally. Because official guidance is limited, your safest approach is to follow government announcements each year and reflect them in your internal holiday calendar and employment contracts.

When employees are required to work on a public holiday, best practice in Comoros is to provide either premium pay for the hours worked or an alternative paid day off, even where not expressly mandated by statute. This aligns with common practice in the region and helps reduce disputes and retention risks.

Legal Penalties for Not Providing Paid Holiday Leave

Publicly available information on specific statutory penalties for non-compliance with public holiday pay in Comoros is limited, and the Labour Code is not widely accessible in English. However, failure to respect official public holidays and related pay obligations can expose your company to labour inspections, administrative sanctions, and employee claims.

Labour authorities and courts in Comoros can order employers to pay outstanding wages, including unpaid holiday pay, and may impose fines or other corrective measures where violations are found. Employees can also bring individual complaints or collective disputes, which may result in back pay, penalties, and reputational damage.

Common employer mistakes include treating public holidays as unpaid leave, failing to pay employees who are not scheduled to work due to the holiday, or not applying consistent rules across full-time and part-time staff. Another frequent issue is ignoring last-minute government announcements of Islamic holiday dates, which can lead to confusion about entitlement and pay.

To reduce risk, you should maintain clear written policies on public holidays, align them with local practice, and keep records of schedules, attendance, and payments. Working with a local partner or employer of record that tracks regulatory changes in Comoros can help ensure you respond quickly to any new guidance or enforcement trends.

How Do Holidays Affect Overtime Thresholds?

Detailed statutory overtime rules specific to public holidays in Comoros are not well documented in publicly available English-language sources. In general, overtime is understood as work performed beyond the normal daily or weekly working hours set by law or contract, and it should be compensated at a higher rate or with additional time off.

Where employees work on a public holiday, many employers in Comoros treat those hours as overtime or premium hours, even if the total weekly hours do not exceed the standard limit. A common approach is to pay a higher hourly rate for holiday work or to grant a paid day off in lieu, based on internal policy, collective agreements, or individual contracts.

Because there is no widely accessible, precise statutory premium rate for public holiday work, you should adopt a clear, written policy that is at least as generous as typical regional practice, such as paying a significant premium on top of the base rate or offering compensatory rest. Applying the same rules consistently across your workforce and documenting employee consent in contracts or handbooks will help you avoid disputes.

For global employers, the safest strategy is to treat work on public holidays in Comoros as both a rest-day exception and an overtime trigger, ensuring that total weekly hours and premium pay meet or exceed local expectations. Regularly review your approach with local counsel or a trusted in-country partner as regulations and enforcement practices evolve.

Stay 100% Compliant with Leave Regulations Using Playroll

Navigating public holidays and leave rules in Comoros can be challenging, especially when Islamic holiday dates shift each year and official guidance is not always easy to access. Playroll helps you cut through that complexity so your team in Comoros is paid correctly and on time, every time.

When you hire through Playroll, we act as your in-country compliance partner. Our local experts track government announcements on public holidays, confirm the final dates for Eid and other Islamic observances, and update your team’s calendars automatically. That means you do not have to chase last-minute changes or worry about missing a newly declared holiday.

Playroll also standardises how you handle paid public holidays, overtime, and days in lieu across your global workforce while still respecting Comorian practice. We build compliant terms into employment contracts, configure payroll to apply the right pay on holidays, and keep clear records to support you in the event of an audit or dispute.

If you want to expand or maintain a team in Comoros without building your own local HR and legal infrastructure, Playroll gives you a single, easy-to-use platform to manage hiring, payroll, benefits, and leave. You stay focused on growing your business, while we handle the day-to-day compliance details that keep your operations aligned with Comorian labour expectations.