What Are The Public Holidays in Jersey in 2026?

List of Public Holidays in Jersey (2026)

Jersey follows a set of island-wide public holidays, with substitute days when certain holidays fall on a weekend. Use this list to plan staffing, leave, and payroll for your Jersey-based team in 2026.

Do Employers Have to Provide Paid Leave on Public Holidays?

No, Jersey employment law does not require employers to provide paid leave specifically on public holidays, but it does require a minimum of 3 weeks' paid annual leave per year for full-time employees, which is separate from public holidays. In practice, many employers in Jersey choose to offer paid public holidays or include them within a more generous annual leave package to stay competitive and align with employee expectations.

Public holidays in Jersey are island-wide, so there are no regional variations you need to track. When a public holiday falls on a weekend, the States of Jersey typically designate a substitute weekday as the observed holiday, as with the substitute day for Boxing Day in 2026. Your company should clearly state in contracts and policies whether employees are entitled to paid time off on both the actual and substitute days or only on the observed weekday.

For part-time staff, entitlement to paid public holidays is usually pro-rated based on their normal working hours and whether they would ordinarily work on the day the holiday falls. If your business operates on public holidays and employees are required to work, any enhanced pay (such as time-and-a-half or double time) or time off in lieu will depend on what you have agreed in contracts, collective agreements, or company policy, as Jersey law does not mandate a specific premium rate for public holiday work.

Legal Penalties for Not Providing Paid Holiday Leave

While Jersey law does not oblige you to pay employees specifically for public holidays, it does require you to provide the statutory minimum paid annual leave. If you fail to provide at least the minimum paid annual leave, employees can bring a claim to the Jersey Employment and Discrimination Tribunal. The Tribunal can order you to compensate employees for unpaid leave and, in some cases, award additional sums where rights have been breached.

Enforcement is primarily through employee complaints and Tribunal claims rather than routine inspections. The key risk for employers is miscalculating leave entitlements, especially for part-time, variable-hours, or seasonal staff, or assuming that offering public holidays off without pay is enough to meet the statutory minimum. Another common mistake is failing to document clearly how public holidays interact with contractual annual leave, which can lead to disputes over whether employees have received their full entitlement.

To reduce risk, you should keep accurate records of hours worked, leave accrued, and leave taken, and ensure your contracts and handbooks clearly explain how public holidays are treated. When in doubt, taking a conservative approach and offering slightly more generous leave than the bare minimum can help you avoid costly disputes and reputational damage.

How Do Holidays Affect Overtime Thresholds?

Jersey does not have a universal statutory overtime premium or a specific legal rule that increases overtime rates on public holidays. Instead, overtime and public holiday pay are largely matters of contract. This means your company has flexibility to define when overtime starts, what rate applies, and whether higher rates are paid on public holidays, provided you respect minimum wage rules and any applicable collective agreements.

In practice, many employers in Jersey offer enhanced rates for work on public holidays, such as time-and-a-half or double time, or provide time off in lieu at an enhanced rate. Whatever approach you choose, you should set it out clearly in employment contracts and your staff handbook. You should also make sure that hours worked on public holidays are included when calculating total hours for the pay period, so you can confirm that employees have received at least the statutory minimum wage for all hours worked.

Because there is no statutory overtime threshold tied specifically to public holidays, the main compliance focus is transparency and consistency. If you promise premium rates or additional time off for holiday work, you must apply those rules consistently across your workforce and keep clear records of hours worked and premiums paid.

Stay 100% Compliant with Leave Regulations Using Playroll

Managing public holidays and leave in Jersey can get complicated quickly, especially when you are coordinating teams across multiple countries. You need to balance Jersey's statutory minimum leave rules with your own company policies on public holidays, overtime, and premium pay, all while keeping contracts and payroll aligned.

Playroll helps you handle this without building an in-house legal and payroll team in every jurisdiction. Our platform and local experts can help you:

• Hire employees in Jersey compliantly, with locally compliant contracts that clearly explain how public holidays and annual leave work
• Configure paid time off policies that meet or exceed Jersey's minimum standards while staying consistent with your global approach
• Automate payroll calculations so public holiday work, overtime, and any premium rates are correctly captured and paid
• Track leave balances and public holiday calendars for Jersey alongside all your other countries in one place
• Update documentation quickly when local practice or your internal policies change

With Playroll, you can give your Jersey-based team a clear, fair holiday and leave experience while staying confident that your company is meeting its legal obligations. That leaves you free to focus on growing your global team, not decoding every nuance of local employment law.