What Are The Public Holidays in Dominican Republic in 2026?

List of Public Holidays in Dominican Republic (2026)

The Dominican Republic recognizes a mix of fixed‑date and movable public holidays, some of which are shifted to Mondays under Law 139‑97. The table below lists the main nationwide public holidays and the dates on which they are expected to be observed in 2026.

Do Employers Have to Provide Paid Leave on Public Holidays?

Yes, under the Dominican Labour Code, employees who normally work on the day of the week on which a public holiday falls are generally entitled to a paid day off at their regular base salary. The holiday is counted as time worked for the purpose of weekly rest and continuity of service, but it does not reduce the employee’s monthly salary.

When a holiday is moved to a Monday under Law 139‑97, the observed Monday is treated as the public holiday for employment purposes. Your company should therefore align its payroll and scheduling with the officially observed date, not just the traditional calendar date.

Part‑time employees who are regularly scheduled on the day of the holiday are typically entitled to pay for the hours they would normally have worked that day. If a part‑time employee is not normally scheduled on that weekday, there is usually no entitlement to holiday pay unless your contract or company policy grants more generous rights.

If your business requires employees to work on a public holiday, the Labour Code provides for premium pay. Employees who work on a public holiday are generally entitled to their normal pay for the holiday plus additional compensation for the hours actually worked at a higher rate, often treated similarly to work on a weekly rest day. Many employers use at least double time for hours worked on the holiday, and some collective agreements provide even higher premiums or compensatory time off. You should always check the applicable collective bargaining agreement or internal policy and ensure that the arrangement is clearly documented in writing.

Legal Penalties for Not Providing Paid Holiday Leave

Failure to respect public holiday rights can expose your company to administrative and financial consequences. The Ministry of Labour is the main enforcement authority and can investigate complaints, conduct inspections and order corrective measures where violations are found.

If you do not pay employees correctly for public holidays or require them to work without the proper premium, you may face back‑pay orders for unpaid wages, surcharges on late payments and administrative fines calculated per affected employee or per infraction. In more serious or repeated cases, authorities can escalate sanctions and, in extreme situations, may even order temporary closure of workplaces until compliance is restored.

Common employer mistakes include treating moved holidays as normal working days, failing to pay holiday premiums for staff who work on those days, excluding part‑time employees who are actually entitled to holiday pay and not reflecting holiday pay correctly in payslips. To reduce risk, keep clear written policies, track official holiday calendars each year and maintain accurate time and attendance records that show who worked on each public holiday and how they were paid.

How Do Holidays Affect Overtime Thresholds?

Public holidays interact with overtime rules mainly through how hours are classified and paid. In the Dominican Republic, the Labour Code sets standard daily and weekly limits for ordinary working hours. Hours worked beyond those limits are generally treated as overtime and must be paid at premium rates.

When an employee works on a public holiday, those hours are usually paid at a premium rate for holiday work, and they may also count toward weekly overtime thresholds. In practice, this often means that hours on a public holiday are compensated at a higher rate than ordinary overtime, or at least not less. Many employers treat holiday work as a separate category with its own premium and then apply overtime rules only once the employee exceeds the normal daily or weekly limits.

Because the Labour Code and collective agreements can set different percentages for overtime, night work and work on weekly rest days or holidays, you should review the specific rules that apply to your workforce. The safest approach is to ensure that employees never receive less than the highest applicable premium for a given hour worked. When in doubt, consult local legal counsel or a trusted payroll provider to confirm how to stack or prioritize premiums for holiday work and overtime.

Stay 100% Compliant with Leave Regulations Using Playroll

Navigating Dominican public holidays, moved observance dates and premium pay rules can be challenging, especially if your HR and payroll teams are based outside the country. Playroll helps you stay compliant by combining local legal expertise with automated workflows that keep your processes aligned with Dominican labour law.

When you hire in the Dominican Republic through Playroll, we handle employment contracts, statutory benefits, public holiday calendars and payroll calculations so your team is paid correctly whether a holiday is observed on its traditional date or moved to a Monday. Our platform automatically updates for official changes to the holiday schedule, applies the right holiday and overtime premiums and generates clear payslips that reflect all entitlements.

You stay in control of who works on each holiday, while we take care of the complex part: ensuring that hours are classified properly, premiums are applied correctly and records are stored in case of an inspection or dispute. That means fewer compliance risks, less manual admin and a better employee experience for your Dominican team members.

If you are planning to expand or already employ people in the Dominican Republic, Playroll gives you a single, reliable system for managing public holidays, leave and payroll in line with local law, so you can focus on growing your business instead of decoding regulations.